Daughter Evicting Father, 91: WWII Vet Fights for Home He Built (PHOTO)
A 91-year-old veteran is fighting for the right to stay in his own home after discovering that his daughter transferred the home to herself and is now evicting him.
A WWII veteran and former employee of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, John Potter is currently facing eviction from a home that he built himself more than 50 years ago. The person evicting him is his own daughter, Janice Cottrill.
"I just cannot believe my daughter would ever do anything like that to me," Potter told ABC News during a recent interview.
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In 2004, fearing his and his wife's declining health, Potter decided to transfer his power of attorney over to his daughter. But in 2010 he realized his daughter had used that power of attorney to transfer the deed of his home to herself.
Potter took his daughter to court, arguing that it was illegal for a person with power of attorney to transfer assets to themselves. He won the case but lost again in an appeals court last year due to a four-year statue of limitations. He has since transferred his power of attorney to his granddaughter, Jaclyn Fraley, 35.
Potter's daughter issued him an eviction notice earlier this year. The eviction hearing will take place on June 12. The judge "will have no choice but to evict Potter," Fraley told ABC News.
Fraley, now slightly estranged from her mother and stepfather after learning her mother's plans to put Potter in a nursing center, is working with her grandfather to keep him in his home. But their only option may require them to repurchase the house. Currently living on his pension, Potter has little funds to make that happen, so Fraley has set up a GoFundMe.com account.
Potter told ABC he is "a little bit embarrassed that I have to ask my fellow man for help."
So far, the father and granddaughter have raised over $40,000. And despite the dispute, Fraley says that she is not acting against her mother in anger.
"People have commented that my mother is 'evil', but I always say she's a human too," she told ABC. "Do I think she deserves the money? No, but my grandfather deserves to stay in his home as long as he possibly can."
