Nanny refuses to work, won't move out after being fired, wants family out of house from 8am to 8pm

[Liberal_in_LA]

(UPLAND, Calif.) -- A California family is stumped about what to do with a live-in nanny who refuses to work, refuses to be fired and refuses to leave.

In fact, Marcella Bracamonte claims that the nanny, Diane Stretton, has threatened to sue the family for wrongful firing and elder abuse.

Marcella and Ralph Bracamonte of Upland, California, hired Stretton, 64, as a live-in nanny on March 4 to help with their three children, ages 11, 4 and 1.

-----------

“All of a sudden she stopped working, she would stay in her room all day and only come out when food was ready,” said Bracamonte.

Stretton then told the couple she had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which prevented her from helping around the house.

After weeks of failed attempts to encourage Stretton to perform some of her agreed upon duties, the couple approached her on June 6 with a “last chance letter” reiterating the conditions of her job and stating the consequences if she continued to ignore her responsibilities. Stretton refused to sign the letter, saying that the job was too much for her and she would be leaving in 30 days.

----------------

Bracamonte soon realized that this was not Stretton’s first time with legal matters. Stretton reportedly has been involved in 36 lawsuits, landing herself on California’s Vexatious Litigant Lists for repeatedly abusing the legal system.

---

Stretton is still living in the family's home, eating the family's food and Bracamonte said Stretton told her she wanted the family out of the house from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

http://www.kabc.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1403812202&article=103B25D5FD6B11E3B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

[JVS]

1. Let me get comfy here.

Ok, have at it.

[villager]

2. I had a housemate like that, once

I think it was a pattern, something she "pulled" for several months at a time, from house-to-house

I'm happier to be living in a smaller place, where no subleasing is needed. Ultimately wound up feeling quite sad for ex-housie, given what a profoundly haunted person she was.

[roguevalley]

43. don't feed her. Stay in your house. Get someone to come in and assess her mind.

[villager]

68. oh, this was finally resolved a year ago, and I've literally "moved on" since then

It was a strange, disturbing situation, since she misrepresented herself just enough to be able to move into the room.

But she turned out to be paranoid and delusional, and not getting any help. I do wonder what finally became of her.

[roguevalley]

71. very weird and sad story

[villager]

72. Oh, much weirder than I've posted here...

Weird, scary, and sad

[Jefferson23]

3. That is one of the weirdest stories I have ever read. n/t

[Ilsa]

4. Serve her a big wet dog turd on a delft plate.

Cut the water and electricity off and skip to a hotel for a few days. When she leaves, change the locks.

[tritsofme]

5. Very strange, if they can't have her removed for trespassing, at least they could stop feeding her.

If she were to leave the house, and they change the locks, would she have some sort of legal right to enter the home until she is formally evicted? It seemed like the article suggested she would. Weird.

[REP]

13. Yes, she would; she's established residency

Remember the rule about vampires: don't EVER invite one in. Goes for inviting people to live at your house: don't do it unless you're ready to go to court.

[bluestateguy]

6. This family screwed themselves, didn't they?

They couldn't get a background check on her to find out that she is a certifiable vexatious litigant--in other words, a nutball?

Somehow, I suspect she is exaggerating her health issues and probably has this whole shuck and jive down to an artform. She is probably counting on annoying the family to the point that they will settle with her ("go away money", as it's called in the business world) before a lawsuit is filed.


And let me shoot this one down right now: just because somebody is poor doesn't automatically make them in the right or morally justified anytime there is a dispute. I say that because SOME here at DU seem to believe that.

[kcr]

8. Poor people aren't automatically right

But I just can't muster up enough energy to care about the problems of a family who failed to vet their nanny properly. I bet she came cheap given the lack of good history and references. If you can't afford a good nanny, don't get one. There are plenty of other resources for good, vetted childcare that come cheaper than a nanny. They're lucky they aren't dealing with much worse.

[rocktivity]

7. Formally fire her and have her arrested for trespassing.

With no job, she has no legal basis on which to live there.

Or do that citizen's arrest where she can be detained for psychological evaluation....(Gets off shiftless lazy ass and does her own research): It's called an involuntary psychiatric hold!


rocktivity

[truedelphi]

42. Calif. law precludes involuntary psychiatric hold.

And if someone is in your home, as a resident, they have to be formally evicted.

Other places, yu can just say that someone's name is not on the lease, or not on the deed, and then you call the police, and then out they go. But Calif has a lot of legal provisions that help out the undeserving.

[Journeyman]

9. Hmm -- a West Coast Bartleby . . .

[REP]

10. They have to start the eviction process - then the police can haul her ass out of there

I bet she worked for about four weeks - long enough to establish residency - then stopped. They have to file for an eviction - and stop feeding her.

[rocktivity]

18. No eviction necessary -- she is neither a tenant nor a guest

Her "residency" was contingent upon performance of her other job duties. Once she refused to work, she lost her legal basis upon which to live there. So call the cops and charge her with criminal trespass. Or call a mental hospital and request an involuntary psychiatric hold.


rocktivity

[JI7]

19. not sure it's that simple , in California in most cases a person can't just be kicked out

of where they are living regardless of how they came to be living there if they had been there for a certain period of time.

but it's not a problem. it will just take a bit of legal work .

[REP]

20. Doesn't work that way, alas. It's a civil matter; cops can't do shit until there's an order to evict

[rocktivity]

24. But it's her workplace first and her home second.

She stopped working there, so it's no longer her home.

If someone in, say, a dentist's office down the street were fired and refused to leave the premises, the cops would come, wouldn't they?


rocktivity

[REP]

25. It's a residence, not an office. They gave her a room of her own.

Seriously. Don't invite them in. EVER. The eviction order will give her thirty days plus another fifteen and then the cops can throw her ass out - and her plenty of time to find another neck to bite.

[Fla Dem]

60. Exactly, it would be like if an employer in a company fired an employee.

If the employee refused to leave the property, they can call the police to have them removed. At that point there is no longer a relationship and they are trespassers.

[oldhippie]

92. You are licensed to practice law ...

... in California?

[bluesbassman]

11. Is there a Craigslist section for job postings like that? Nice work if you can get it.

[Renew Deal]

48. There is

And some people hire young girls fairly cheap to be au pairs. They are basically live in babysitters and can be cheaper than day care in some situations.

[bluesbassman]

69. I meant ones for an old Bluesman to lay in bed all day and only come out for meals.

[KittyWampus]

95. You wouldn't come out and play some guitar?

[bluesbassman]

96. Well, maybe for some good barbecue and a cold beer.

[malaise]

12. This will make a great movie

Damn!!!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

29. Have they settled on a script yet for Mrs Doubtfire II ?

[malaise]

32. ROFL

She's way different

[christx30]

35. It did make a great movie.

It was called 'Pacific Heights', starring Michael Keaton. Ended correctly for everyone involved.

[alcibiades_mystery]

55. That was my first thought as well: Carter Hayes!

[bluestateguy]

37. Picture perfect for the Lifetime Channel

nt

[malaise]

46. And we wonder why all Lifetime advertises

is big pharmas various medications

[Renew Deal]

49. That's what I was thinking.

[Jamastiene]

53. Pacific Heights comes to mind.

It wasn't a nanny, but the guy sure took up residence and they couldn't remove him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Heights_%28film%29

[dilby]

14. They need to evict her and most importantly do not touch her or her belongings.

It is imperative that the family goes through the legal measure of removing this woman from their home. If they touch her or her belongings they can be arrested and then the woman will have free access to the home and all their possessions till the evictions goes through.

I have seen this before with people who rent rooms out of a house, they will move in, not pay the second months rent then become very combative till the home owner does something stupid like touches them. The renter then cries assault, calls the police and has the owner arrested. At which point the owner is not allowed to go back into their own home till the squatter is evicted. Usually when they get back into their homes they were robbed blind.

[REP]

23. Yup. You are correct.

[NightWatcher]

15. I would sell the family my deadbeat removal services

Day One: Stop serving her food, but don't be obvious about it. Just have everyone else eat out all day.
Day Two: Have a big BBQ in the back yard and be ready to lock the door behind her when she came outside to get a rack of ribs off the grill. Lock her out and then turn on the sprinklers.

If that did not work, send the family to a hotel and launch Operation Fumigation. It involves turning off the AC and fan, Hell cut the power all together and bolt the windows shut. Lock every other door in the house so she'd have nowhere else to run to hide. Then start stinking her out with bowls of feces left outside her room. Then introduce dozens of cats and a boombox blasting Judas Priest music and Spice Girls 24 hours a day.


If that did not work, I'd hire some large strong dudes to pick her up out of her room and carry her to the street, gently of course, I'm no monster.

[MADem]

28. You had me laughing at Day Two!!!!!

Day Two: Have a big BBQ in the back yard and be ready to lock the door behind her when she came outside to get a rack of ribs off the grill. Lock her out and then turn on the sprinklers.





Operation Fumigation is priceless!!!!

[malaise]

33. Getting up off the floor

This thread is a DUzy

[Cha]

45. Day Two-BBQ!

[hack89]

80. Aren't the Spice Girls taking it a little too far?

there are limits, you know.

[Louisiana1976]

16. They should call the police and have them help evict her. About her threats to sue

they should find a lawyer who can take their case pro bono who could help them.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. They did call the cops. Cops said it's a civil matter

[REP]

21. Once they have an order to evict (30 days + 15 usually), cops will throw her out

Not until then, though.

[REP]

22. CA landlord/tenant law is on line; they can file themselves

[csziggy]

65. Unless they have gone through the eviction procedures

The cops can do nothing.

I had a person who was living on my property that I asked to leave. Even after he physically assaulted me, the police considered it a civil matter. I had to go through formal eviction procedures even though he had never paid a cent in rent. The whole process took over 60 days, during which time I was in fear from this man.

Even after the eviction notices went out - and I had to force the cops to serve the man with the notice AFTER I had paid for the service - the man tried to delay, claiming our driveway was too "rough" to haul his house trailer out. My lawyer's response to the court was that the last time I had been working, doing maintenance on the farm the man had attacked me and I was afraid to do any work on the farm as long as the man was still around. The court gave him 48 hour after that to get off my property.

In most states, landlord tenant law favors the tenant (I have no objection to that in general) and it takes a major violation by the tenant to short circuit the legal process. And the definition of a tenant is simply that they live on the premises full time over a certain number of days.

That is why reputable caretaker companies do not allow caretakers to live with their clients full time. My Mom's caretakers stay 24 hours a day but change every three days - too short of a time to qualify as tenants.

[elleng]

26. Don't feed her!

[OriginalGeek]

27. I can't believe it took this long

I stay.

[Alex P Notkeaton]

31. I can't believe it, either

I mean, the response was so fucking obvious! Good job, OG

[ChisolmTrailDem]

41. This is what I was looking for before posting it myself! You beat me to it. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

30. Reminds me of that Drew Barrymore movie, Duplex.

[Yo_Mama]

34. "I prefer not" - Bartleby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartleby,_the_Scrivener

Gutenberg link:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11231

[treestar]

58. Oh right!

I could not quite remember that name!

[HooptieWagon]

36. Why are they feeding her?

Put a padlock on the pantry and fridge.

[LisaL]

40. Exactly. Lock up all the food.

She will have to get out eventually and go look for food.

[greytdemocrat]

38. Boot meet ass.

Change locks.

[Phentex]

64. She has to come out of her room to pee, no?

Why couldn't they just grab her and throw her out? OR have a cab waiting, stuff her in the cab and pay for them to drop her off in Nebraska.

[A Little Weird]

70. Then she could sue for assault

And likely win.

[Phentex]

73. how could she prove it?

especially if you are related to the cab driver?

[geek tragedy]

39. They should stop feeding her. nt

[Cha]

44. Damn.. I guess they could not feed her. That would be mean but maybe she'd get her butt

outta the house and they could dump her shit on the curb. If this true.. Stretton's got gop chutzpah.

[B Calm]

47. Nanny would make a good Republican Congressman!

[Renew Deal]

50. lol

[avebury]

51. And this is a good reason to always obtain

a background check on any potential nanny. In some states you can even look up your court system's websites and check to see if someone's name shows up on any court cases.

A little bit of homework would have saved this family a whole lot of grief.

[Phentex]

59. That's why I just can't care about these parents...

They let someone move into their home and care for the most precious things they have - their children - WITHOUT doing a background check? This lady had a huge record. They were idiots. It borders on child endangerment.

[bettyellen]

52. Can they set up some live web cams? Maybe make some money

And give this meanie some air time?

[Jamastiene]

54. That is a great idea.

Expose her for all the world to see. That way she won't have such an easy time doing something like this again. If more people are aware of her and other scam artists, it will make it harder for them to get by with it.

[christx30]

56. The quote from the article that gave me pause was this one:

Stretton is still living in the family's home, eating the family's food and Bracamonte said Stretton told her she wanted the family out of the house from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Stretton doesn't actually have the right to do that, does she? But, yeah. Padlock the fridge and the cupboards. Don't feed this beast of a woman. Make things as hostile and uncomfortable for her as you can without actually touching her. After 30 days, get the eviction order and put this lady out on the curb. And then broadcast what she did to everyone in town, so she can't do it to anyone else. Probably the only time I wanted homelessness for any person.

[treestar]

57. Barnaby

I would prefer not to!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

67. Bartleby.

[treestar]

87. Yes!

[Sunlei]

61. 36 lawsuit history. do a background check before you hire someone to live in your home.

[Phentex]

62. Yep. I don't feel sorry for them at all.

Spend $30 bucks before you bring a crook into your home.

[Logical]

78. How kind of you! nt

[Phentex]

79. They endangered their children...

did they not?

[Logical]

81. Another perfect DU member! Congrats! nt

[Phentex]

82. thanks

[snooper2]

63. but she looks like such a nice older lady, LOL, I have the solution

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UQmzN4_XjaXEduhhiD5HJQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9NTU4O2NyPTE7Y3c9OTkyO2R4PTA7ZHk9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0zNTU7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/


First, start making nice with her for a week starting on Sunday then on Wed. say we are going to Disney Land!

Get the kids ready, she'll be ready, load up the car and get ready to have fun!

As soon as your friend sees the your car turn the corner, he/she/team go into your house, pack her shit up in boxes and bags and proceed to put the shit on the curb, down the street a couple houses. Then they can change the locks and you'll already have the new keys on your keychain. House/Nanny issue complete phase 1

Phase 2-
When you arrive at Disney Land give the lady $500 to "budget" for the day for gifts, food, shows, etc. Within the first hour, have her go somewhere for something (in a little shop, anything) and have the family pre-ready to GET THE FUCK OUT OF DODGE-

Immediately leave Disney Land without the Nanny, go home to your house with your new keys-

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I'm a genius!

[steve2470]

66. This lady is lucky she's still alive, seriously

I'm NOT advocating violence, but *some* people would have shot her by now. She's very lucky these people are civilized, if overly kind to her and naive/stupid.

[Lee-Lee]

74. In all seriousness, this is another manifestation of mental illness and how it affects all around

We focus on mental illness when a mentally ill person shoots people, then ignore it all the rest.

But these serial litigators and people who do things like this are all almost always also suffering from some manifestation of a mental illness. I have dealt with a few people that filed crazy lawsuits all the time to harass, who lived in another reality thinking they were entitled to property and work of others, and who pulled stuff like this all the time.

Almost always the root issue was some sort of untreated mental illness.

In all seriousness, a person in their right mind doesn't do this.

This is another example of just how untreated mental illness affects everyone. She will finally get evicted, file a lawsuit or string of them against the family, and will move on to victimize more unsuspecting people in another way.

[Ilsa]

84. It looks more like a form of grifting.

I wonder if they could annoy her with loud hard rock music or other sensory assaults to make her want to leave.

[alphafemale]

88. It is most certainly grifting. Her entire life from the sound of it.

They often have their own little communities.

I hope they kept her away from their computers.

I despise these types of people.

[Lee-Lee]

97. These kinds of people go past grifting

Grifters know they are wrong, and just play it out as long as they can. News coverage like this is enough to usually send them scurrying so they don't get so well known they can't do it again.

Ones like here are actually convinced in their mind that they are in the right and everyone else is out to get them.

[Eleanors38]

93. Nah, she just a-squattin' & gobblin'. Knows the legal ropes.

I've been a landlord. Wanna lay down a stink? You can do it and get away with it for many weeks. Fortunately, I had a written lease giving me the right to seize property in lieu of rent. BOY, did I seize. They bugged out in 2 days in order to get back the T.V., and some German stereo whose name I can't announce in public without getting arrested. Went through eviction even after they had gone. Coffin, nails, that sorta thing.

[hunter]

75. Call the cops. Maybe they'll shoot her.

God it would be nice to live in a first world nation with adequate social services.

[liberal N proud]

76. Things would become very uncomfortable for the nanny

There wouldn't be any food, we would be doing take out or eating out for a while. Temperature in the house would become very uncomfortable depending on the season.

There would be no hot water for a few days. We would all take a staycation and play loud music for a week.

[gopiscrap]

77. that's interesting

I guess a judge just ruled in the nanny's favor.

[Generic Brad]

83. They could always play Slim Whitman 24/7 at full volume

Not everyone enjoys that.

http://vimeo.com/18377559

[KamaAina]

85. Oh, Mr. Shef-field!

[ripcord]

86. If she leaves the house she makes sure to leave some of her things there

As with any landlord situation they can not enter her room without her permission. The mother has had to quit her job to keep an eye on the nanny.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

89. My brother had roughly this experience with a "girlfriend"

This surfer-drifter girl moved in with him after all of two or three weeks of dating to mine and my parents sheer horror. Then she turned around after about a month and kicked him out of his own apartment, threatened to get a restraining order and refused to move out.

He had about four months left on the lease that my parents had signed, so they just wrote off the damage deposit and let the landlord deal with her.

[christx30]

90. Looks like she was homeless for 9 years.

She disappared from the family's home for 2 days, but she has been spotted in her car, sitting outside the police station.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2673173/Nanny-stayed-familys-home-unwanted-squatter-disappears-couple-fear-legal-woes-continue.html

Hope she's gone for good. How long does a person have to be gone from a place to disestablish residency. I'd imagine it was 30 days, if the eviction process doesn't get her first.

[LeftyMom]

91. It's fifteen days for a notice of belief of abandonment to expire.

At that point the tenancy ends but you still have some more time to have to deal with abandoned property, depending on it's value (if it's less than $200 yard sale value you can pitch it, if it's more you have to store it for a while.)

[christx30]

94. That's not bad.

Two weeks from now they can just put her stuff into storage and change the locks. But being homeless for 9 years, i doubt she's really have anything of value there.

[rocktivity]

98. Update

ABC.com: The Bracamontes claim that they hired Stretton as a live-in nanny in early March in exchange for room and board, but she stopped working earlier this month because of physical ailments. When she allegedly refused to come out of her room except to eat, they dismissed her and asked her to leave, the Bracamontes claim. Stretton refused to leave and threatened to sue them for elder abuse and improper firing, the family claims.

Stretton, 64, made her claims to KNX radio...after days of refusing to speak about the accusations against her, even when reporters found her living in her car at a police station..."Well, first of all, I wasn’t fired, unless you can be fired after you quit. I quit two days before they fired me...And I gave 30 days of notice, which we had agreed to."

Stretton, who left the Bracamontes' home Thursday but has not moved her stuff out, sent an email to Cohen over the weekend setting out conditions for removing her possessions and leaving the home for good by July 4. They included having the media leave the Bracamontes' home, allowing her three more nights in the house and the use of the shower...

She's been gone since last Thursday, didn't speak to the media until Monday, and is now demanding that the media leave a place where she has no jurisdiction? A little bird tells me that it was the media attention that finally drove her away, yet she's still trying to control the situation -- straight out of the paranoid schizophrenic's playbook.


rocktivity