Dying Union City Woman Fights for her Home
A 77-year-old terminally-ill widow is fighting to stay in her Union City home after her landlord died and left the house to Stanford. Angie Cicero has stage VI breast cancer, she's widowed with no children, and she doesn't want to leave her long-time home.
"I've been there 25 years next month," Cicero said through tears. "I got married 57 years ago. Where is an old lady like me going to go?"
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Two years ago her landlord died, leaving the $440,000 home on Condor Drive to Stanford, which says it's not pushing for eviction, but is simply the beneficiary.
Gillian Ross represents the estate's trustee, who Ross says has bent over backwards to help the tenant.
"She has offered first month's rent, last month's rent and security deposit, along with a $15,000 payment as a security net, all to no avail," said Ross. "Ms. Cicero has not paid rent since 2007"
Cicero's attorney Brenda Adams says that no offer can sustain the woman for long.
"Ms. Cicero subsists on a very, very low fixed income. If she is forced to move out, she will have nowhere to live because she's not capable of affording to live anywhere else," said Adams.
Ironically, a Stanford spokeswoman tells KCBS, the home was left to the school of medicine, intended for cancer research.
Cicero takes her fight to court on Friday.
