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101-Year-Old Detroit Woman Gets House Back From HUD After Being Evicted
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Admitting they made a big mistake, officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said late Wednesday they will allow 101-year-old Texana Hollis to move back into the southwest Detroit home she was evicted from Monday.
And she can stay there for the rest of her life.
"We were absolutely thunderstruck when we understood that a 101-year-old woman was put out of her home," said Brian Sullivan, HUD spokesman.
Sullivan said HUD officials have informed Hollis' niece and granddaughter that Hollis can move back into the Carbondale Street home she has lived in for 50 years -- as soon as she is released from Henry Ford Hospital, where she has been since the eviction.
Sullivan said HUD officials mistakenly thought Hollis' home was a tax foreclosure before they reviewed the case.
Hollis' 64-year-old son, Warren Hollis, has admitted it was his fault his mother was evicted. Warren Hollis, who lived in the home with his mother and 69-year-old brother Ira Hollis Jr., said he had his mother sign a reverse mortgage in 2002.
He said he used the $32,000 received from the mortgage to pay for a new roof and for other bills. He said he ignored default and eviction notices.
"I didn't take any action because I didn't think it would happen -- she's been here for such a long time," Warren Hollis said Tuesday. "I screwed it up good."
He was with her at the hospital Wednesday, and said they were overjoyed by the news that she could return home.
"It boosted her spirits quite a bit," Warren Hollis said.
Records from 36th District Court in Detroit show HUD bought the home at auction in December.
Sullivan said a lender turned the mortgage over to HUD in 2006; they've been making tax payments since 2007. He said HUD will continue to do so, and Texana Hollis can live in the home for as long as she wants.
"I can't underscore enough just how ... thunderstruck, mortified, you know, take your pick. ... We have grandparents, the thought was ... just not acceptable," Sullivan said about Hollis' eviction.
Staff writers Alexandra Bahou and Gina Damron contributed to this report.