Imagine the kind of life you could lead if you didn’t have to pay rent. You could easily send your kids to a great college, pay for adequate health care, and be comfortable in retirement.
Lisa Hardy was afforded that luxury for about nine years.
Unfortunately for her, that eventually came to an end. The Indianapolis mother of three lived in a three-bedroom home rent-free for about nine years. All the while she cared for her home, tended to her yard, paid for utilities and security as if the house was her own.
But it was not. Hardy was working as a leasing agent for Showhomes Property Management in early 2005 when she received this “blessing.”
Her company said that she could move into one of their houses and live rent-free as long as she worked at the company.
“They said, ‘Pick out a house,” Hardy told the Indy Star. “I thanked God every single day. There’s not one day I haven’t thanked the good Lord for the opportunity to live here without rent.”
Hardy felt at peace in her new home and with her agreement. Eventually, the housing market tanked in Indianapolis as it did everywhere else in the U.S.
Hardy’s employer was among those responsible for offering fraudulent and over-priced mortgages.
The company laid of Hardy in 2006 and went out of business a few months later. Her boss, Showhomes’ owner Robert Penn, ended up being charged with fraud by the federal government for obtaining more than $16 million in bad home loans.
He ended up being sentenced to seven years in prison. Hardy said she never knew about the company’s legal troubles and just continued living in the house. She just kept on paying her utilities.
She kept seeing property tax notices addressed to a man but was never contacted personally about the house.
She called the city to ask about the property taxes and said she was told not to pay them if they weren’t in her name. Records show the house went into foreclosure for lack of payment of taxes in 2007, 2008, and 2010. But there were no buyers or the house was withdrawn from sale for legal reasons.
The city was swamped with thousands of homes that were abandoned by owners due to the housing crash so Hardy’s home fell under the radar for weeks.
Hardy says the house has provided stability for her and her family.
She said she was unable to work because of bouts of manic depression but she could afford the home because she didn’t have to pay rent. She said the home helped her sons stay out of trouble as teens.
“I lived here on pins and needles. I never knew when I was going to have to go. It was stressful,” Hardy said.
She said she was actually relieved when she found out the house was sold for $7,500.
A Singapore investment company named CTL Group bought the home along with dozens of others in Indianapolis. The company said it is going to spend at least $15,000 to renovate the home. Hardy hopes that the company will let her rent the home.
“If she wishes to be my tenant I am more than happy to accept her as my tenant after my renovation,” a representative for the company said. “This saves us trouble of looking for a tenant.”
Learn more about Hardy’s unique story in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
