Mudslide could cost elderly Aberdeen woman her home
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ABERDEEN, Wash. -- An Aberdeen woman is fighting to keep her home after a November mudslide made it uninhabitable.
City officials have marked Sharon Stanley's home for demolition, and her insurance agency is refusing pay out her claim. Stanley had to abandon the house November 19 after heavy rains caused a mudslide that sent the house several feet down a hill.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to just lose everything," she said.
Stanley's doing all she can to keep the house, but news has not been good.
"It's the city's position that the dwelling is beyond repair and will need to be demolished," said city code enforcer Ray Olson.
If it wasn't bad enough that her house is unlivable, Stanley said looters came in and stole many of her possessions, including a prized 50-year-old record collection.
"Johnny Cash, Johnny Rivers, Tina Turner, the whole thing was full," she said.
It seems the only good news in the whole ordeal is that Stanley found her two cats, who were briefly trapped inside the house. While she loves having her cats back, Stanley is dealing with a host of other problems. She recently found out that her insurance company -- Farmers -- denied her claim on the house.
Officials from the company say the slide was caused by rain, and Stanley's coverage has a "heavy rain" exclusion. They also said Stanley's policy excluded coverage caused by the ground moving.
"Everything was excluded because of the earth movement, and it's just ridiculous," Stanley said.
The city says the house will be demolished unless Stanley can come up with the money to fix it.
"Well, I can't afford to fix it," Stanley said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to just lose everything."
The 75-year old has been diagnosed with skin cancer and was recently forced to retire from driving a transit bus. Now she has to go through her belongings to see what she can salvage from the home and what will be lost.
For now, Stanley is renting a place in Ocean Shores.
City officials have marked Sharon Stanley's home for demolition, and her insurance agency is refusing pay out her claim. Stanley had to abandon the house November 19 after heavy rains caused a mudslide that sent the house several feet down a hill.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to just lose everything," she said.
Stanley's doing all she can to keep the house, but news has not been good.
"It's the city's position that the dwelling is beyond repair and will need to be demolished," said city code enforcer Ray Olson.
If it wasn't bad enough that her house is unlivable, Stanley said looters came in and stole many of her possessions, including a prized 50-year-old record collection.
"Johnny Cash, Johnny Rivers, Tina Turner, the whole thing was full," she said.
It seems the only good news in the whole ordeal is that Stanley found her two cats, who were briefly trapped inside the house. While she loves having her cats back, Stanley is dealing with a host of other problems. She recently found out that her insurance company -- Farmers -- denied her claim on the house.
Officials from the company say the slide was caused by rain, and Stanley's coverage has a "heavy rain" exclusion. They also said Stanley's policy excluded coverage caused by the ground moving.
"Everything was excluded because of the earth movement, and it's just ridiculous," Stanley said.
The city says the house will be demolished unless Stanley can come up with the money to fix it.
"Well, I can't afford to fix it," Stanley said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate to just lose everything."
The 75-year old has been diagnosed with skin cancer and was recently forced to retire from driving a transit bus. Now she has to go through her belongings to see what she can salvage from the home and what will be lost.
For now, Stanley is renting a place in Ocean Shores.
A home owners policy does not cover landslide. Â Blaming the company that covers her for fire/wind/hail is way off base. Â Like every home owner she had the option to purchase a separate policy which could include flood, landslide and earthquake. Â She lives on a hill. Â She knew this. Â Landslide has always been a risk for her just like fire and wind damage are and that her policy does cover her for. Â
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The reporters on this story did a disservice to the truth in their reporting.  Insurance companies only cover the things in their policies that the state allows them to cover.  If they paid claims for things they didn't get premium to cover they would become insolvent and not be able to pay the claims they are obligated to pay.  That is the coverage you and I pay for.
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This state has one of the most pro consumer laws in the whole country that protects insurance consumers from a company acting in bad faith as is implied here.  If she had a policy that was supposed to cover landslide and the company welched on it, lawyers would be lining up to take her case for their piece of the treble damages award she would be entitled to.
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She seems like a very nice lady and this is a tragedy that she is losing her home but she doesn't have anyone to blame. Â
ps why isn't everyone screaming about why the city of aberdeen isn't buying her a new home? Â They've known about the problem for how long??Â
Unfortunately, she didn't have earthquake insurance.  If she had it, the claim would have been paid, plain and simple.  Looks like we're all trying to rewrite Washington insurance law now.  Why do they offer earthquake and flood?  It's for this reason.  Just because someone paid house insurance to cover fire, wind, roof collapse, theft, doesn't mean that if a flood or earthquake, earth movement happens, the company will just pay it. out of the goodness of their heart.  News flash, no insurance company will.  She got her policy just like all of us did, that explained the coverage in laymens terms, that she did not have earthquake or flood and if she wanted it to call her agent.  She failed to read it, it's no ones fault but her own, and ours if we don't read the policy and expect the same outcome.
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It's like saying, "I paid for my car insurance for all these years, I paid good money for 25/50/10, that's what the state sez I have ta have, I injured someone in an accident and that dag gum insurance company is REFUSING to pay anything over 25k, can you believe it!! Â Now I'm getting wage garnishments for the next 15 years and lost my retarment all because that evil, rich, insurance company refused to pay!!"
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This happens every day, we all want the cheapest insurance possible, but don't want to get the right insurance to pay the claim if it happens. Â
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This reporter didn't do her homework. Â She slandered and libeled a good company for no reason. Â How many good people does Farmers employ in the seattle area? Â Over 10,000. Â This false reporting hurts good people that work hard. Â
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Bottom line, this is a good wake up call. Â you should meet with your agent once a year to make sure you have the right coverage's. Â If this were your home with your favorite insurance company, the outcome would have been exactly the same. Â Dont believe me? Â Call your agent and check. Â If anyone feels that a company should pay everything on everyone whether they have insurance or not, expect your rates to double or triple so you can pay for claims for those that don't have insurance.
She is a awesome person and I will stop all insurance with farmers. Wish I was able to help her myself but financially I cant and I'm disabled. She loves her cats and im glad she has then back.
she lives super close to my parents. she really needs some honest people to come help her. she is the sweetest lady ever and has helped several people. now somebody needs to come to her rescue!
Well, I happen to have a cute house in Aberdeen for sale. It would fit all of her belongings and isn't on a hill. No threat of this happening again. I think it's a win/win!Â
Dropping Farmer's Insurance like a bad habit, this lady is well liked in the community and has worked her ass off her entire life..Â
Why the hell would you not have heavy rain coverage or slide coverage if your house is on a hill!?
@brentbusch keyword... AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE!
Seriously folks insurance works but you have to read the in between the lines... get everything in writing... I had my insurance agency take ALL their legal garbage into a simple one page summary of what is covered and what is NOT...seriously folks they answer your questions but you have to do your homework... Assuming things is a bad mix regardless... at age 75 this is just terrible but I am hopeful she qualifies for assisted living in a community where elderly folks are taken care of... my parents are likely going to be relocating to a similar place such as Merrill Gardens or some other place which work on people who are on a FIXED INCOME .... there is help for people even in this ladies situation... it really sucks her insurance is not covering this but it is right there in the policy for anyone to find and read!
Sharon is the most nicest ladies that I could ever of met,my kids enjoyed riding her bus when she was driving for Grays Harbor transit.
@Jennifer Lynn Cox hi my name is Kelly my granddaughter sure loved riding her bus it was all decorated and she got a treat , very nice women im sorry what you are going through we sure miss you on the Transit....take care
I'd let looters continue, and hope one drops a lit cigarette, then collect the fire ins.
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First of all, KOMO, could you please get your **%%& together. In the first paragraph, you say the insurance agency is refusing to pay. Figure out the difference between an agency and a company, would you.
Second of all, all you people who are commenting on the insurance company need to get a clue. Earth movement caused by water, unless it is accidental and immediate, (not rain) is not covered under anyone's homeowners insurance. It's covered by flood insurance. If you don't have a flood insurance policy, you aren't going to be covered in the same situation. Know what you are buying and know what you have.Â
@missbertie DO everybody a favor and get your nose out of the air
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We the people by continuing to support worthless Insurance companies, will continue to see this type of abuse. We could call this senior abuse, which is illegal in all states. Unfortunately it spreads to all people without a law degree. When we see commercials showing fire, flooding, trees falling on houses and wind, this should be a clue of false advertizement. No insurance companies do not cover flooding, that is the Fed Government and most of all wind damage and water is an act of god, not covered. Earthquake can be purchased, but you would need to have the knowledge of an underwriter to pick the right coverage.
First, I hope the scum who looted her home are found buried under a mudslide.
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Second, if the insurance company won't at least cover the cost of her possessions, and a few months' worth of a decent hotel, then she should sue the city for gross negligence: an act of god is one thing, but, allowing a home to be destroyed so easily, meant that warning signs were there, of which the town should have foreseen, and protected its citizens.
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Third, at least she appears to be in good spirits, bless her.
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Unfortunately most insurance policies are so long and so full of disclaimers and legalese that the common person couldn't understand them even if they tried. They are exactly the opposite of what I was taught in "clear writing" classes I took when writing for the state.
 @jcman Intriguing. This "clear writing " class of which you speak, was it to train you to write clear, concise English or the opposite? Apparently, whoever got assigned to write our laws in this State surely was amiss in their attendance.
 @Getov Mylon To write clear concise and easy to read manuals and regulations, not laws. You think the state laws are convoluted? You should read the Social Security act sometime. Once I was working on requesting a waiver to a section of the SS act and reading the act one day I realized I had read two and a half pages and still hadn't hit a period. The real clincher that I had become a true bureaucrat was that I understood it. It was a little scary.
 @jcman Fantastic! Now we have an inside man!. So... on your day off , could you translate any random section of the ACA. I read it and I don't think it makes any sense at all. Plain English for dummies like me.Thanks!
Is there any chance she can qualify for low income housing? If I lived closer I'd gladly volunteer to help her rebuild
or move. The Gates Foundation helps people in other Countries, why not help a local for a change? Come on people of Aberdeen and Ocean Shores, organize and help this wonderful deserving person! Why hasn't KOMO started a donation site for her, its been over a month now ?
 @joefuss Most of Aberdeen is just as poor as she is. :(
By the way, I think her eyebrows are awesome! When I get to be that age, I want to be a rebel too!
@The WA Mama Aw heck, be a rebel now! What have you got to lose :)
@swansong68 I don't think my boss would go for it! LOL!!!
People should barrage her insurance company with complaint letters. And if you do have insurance through them, you may want to check your coverage and compare with other companies.
 @The WA Mama All the insurance companies are good for mostly is to collect premiums and deny claims for almost everything they possibly can.... bottom feeders comes to mind.
Home insurance companies are becoming like the health insurance companies had become with making up their reasons to NOT cover you. It's ridiculous they not cover pre-existing illnesses. Who doesn't have a pre-existing illness? The home in insurance does not cover rain events like this? This is Washington State where it rains all the time! It's a crime what is happening to this lady.
This is just another example of ways that insurance companies screw the public. If you watch their commercials they imply they cover everything, but then once the fine print is understood by a Philadelphia Lawyer, they technically cover nothing, except maybe fire. When you have a mortgage, there is a minimum requirement that your insurance covers the mortgage value. If the first $1500 a year to an insurance company technically covers nothing, then why do you have to add rider's to a worthless policy?
I have been with Farmer's Group for 20 years or so, Have had 2 major car claims and a homeowner liability problem, all were taken care of quickly and honestly. Thought I should throw that in.
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It's unfortunate that her policy doesn't cover the damage, but it isn't like the insurance company is pulling a fast one here, this is what the policy said all along. Maybe the insurance rep should have pointed it out in the past, and offered a rider that covers that, if such a thing exists.
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Maybe she can get a reverse mortgage to fix the house?
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One more thing, who steals record albums? That's pathetic.
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 @Insomniac Dreams good to hear you have had good luck with Farmer's I for one will never ever consider getting insurance from Farmer's again.not likely "Flood insurance" is even available for that part of town because I do not believe it is in a flood plane
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 @Insomniac Dreams With all the thieving meth heads in the area, any one of them who knew their value!
 @Bob Goodwin hey do not forget about all the Heroin addicts there too!
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@Insomniac Dreams I believe this type of situation would be covered under flood insurance. A lot of people, unfortunately, don't really understand what their insurance covers & doesn't cover. Most standard policies don't cover mudslides or flooding (I've even heard of insurance not covering a flood caused by a burst water heater).
The people that are posting the comments about her eyebrows, I hope that someday you never need a helping hand, you clearly won't deserve it. Good god, if that is the best you can do is to only see her eyebrows, may heaven help you shallow, ignorant bunch. Â I wish her well and hope for the best for her. Â Would also like to see a fund set up for her, please KOMO let us know if this is being done.
Insurance companies such as Farmers ARE RELIABLE!!!! They are very reliable at taking your $ and cashing your checks right away; but that's about it. Don't rely on them for much else because nothing good isn't gonna happen!
She is by far one of the nicest ladies I have ever met in my entire life. I use to ride her transit daily when I was in highschool - She still remembers me 10 years later. She's the type to always ask how you're doing, how the kids are, how life is.. etc. She may have crazy purple eyebrows, but, at one point she had crazy purple hair to match those eyebrows... And the main thing that always struck me as awesome was her mound of TY beanie babies & stuffed animals she had lining her dashboard, the celing, around her captians chair on her bus... - Thats what is so great about her - Her uniqueness. I really hope an organization can come through and help her get through these hard times. People like her deserve a little help every now and again. And I really hope that they catch the people who looted her home. Thats just down right mean.....
Any KOMO links to helping this woman out somehow? Apparently, she's been an inspirational figure in her community for some time and is beloved by many. How about some compassion for a human being in need.
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And as for her flamboyant appearance.."When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me.... ". You go, Sharon.
If this cute old lady looked like Hillary Clinton no one would be griping about the big bad insurance companies. "Earth movement" has been specifically excluded for decades and she's not the first or last to buy/build in a risky area and lose the gamble. A relatively small percentage of U.S. homes are in the line of fire for potential mudslides and the vast majority of the rest don't want to pay for coverage they'll never use. Read your policy sometime, it covers just about everything you could reasonably imagine and a few things you never thought about, Flood &Earth movement just happen to be the two biggies. Bummer, yes but the situation is pretty black and white.
It's unbelievable what insurance companies and our govt can get away with. You could pay for every coverage available and the insurance company would still find a way to weasel out of a claim. We just made a small homeowners claim and were told our rates would likely go up for the next three years to pay for it. What the hell have we been paying for all along then? I hope this woman wins this one!
Farmers Insurance is a joke. Should be boycotted. Home Owners insurance should cover mudslides also.Â
 @@amber@ Had Farmers once. Had a bad experience, fortunately only a relatively cheap learning experience in fine print. Moved on, never looked back, laugh at the occasional sales calls or mail I get from them. Homeowners insurance can be bought to cover just about anything, but unless you *explicitly * ask for and PAY for flood and earthquake / earth movement coverage, you are SOL if it comes your way. Depending on your locations and situation, they may be cheap, or subsidized, or bloody expensive (which is why most people don't have it).
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OTOH, the "not habitable" determination is sometimes not exactly an obvious thing, and some of the stuff I've seen called "do not enter, demolish" were still usable for the duration of the emergency, and forcing a quick evac was just stupid, except that it made the *government's* job easier. There should always be a "you own it, your decision, but this is our recommendation" sort of thing that lets a person with few options make the final choice themselves, unless it is literally teetering in the wind half-over a cliff being held in place by a phone wire and a water-pipe.
i had farmers here. we had a 100 mile windstorm mesased up a number of tiles and the insurance adjuster said that someone walked on the tiles that really steamed me up. i cancelled them
I'd like to see an attorney take up her case and challenge Farmer's. I wonder how many years she has paid the premiums on her homeowners policy, and then they wouldn't honor her claim? Â And then the city needs to be sued too for not responding to her complaints. Clearly poor engineering as far as storm water runoff, remember what happened here in Greenwood district, where the storm drains were inadequate, and whole neighborhoods were flooding year after year? Â Seattle was obliged to upgrade the drainage systems for a large area.Â
it could be that the city is liable as the condition of the street may be the reason the water got in the ground and sent the house down the hill.
 @32jim2 That street and the area around it was a slide waiting to happen. Just above her house the road has slid many times, and has water trickling across the road - year round.  Â
Isn't there a non-profit that can step in and help her rebuild her home like Habitat for Humanity? I would definitely step up to the plate and come help rebuild her home. I have no money but I can sling a hammer!
Farmers, hmmm, I definitely will keep that in mind.
She is going through allot of crap and her face and eyes are just lite up. There are allot of people that can learn a thing or two from her.Â