Ailing Couple Face Eviction Because Caregiving Son Is Under 55 (Video)

Shouldn't the rules of an age-restricted community sometimes bend a little, out of compassion? That's what a couple in central Florida is arguing as they're threatened with eviction after becoming reliant on their son for assistance because of medical problems. Barbara and Andrew Gorski, both in their 60s, live in the "manufactured-housing" community of Gulfstream Harbor in Orlando -- limited to those 55 and older -- and both have difficulty walking, reports Orlando TV station WESH. Barbara Gorski has breast cancer and arthritis; Andrew Gorski has prostate cancer and a damaged spinal cord.

"They can't take care of themselves on their own," their 39-year-old son, Daren Chase, told the station in explaining why he lives with them. "I do everything for them." Because Chase is underage, Gulfstream Harbor has ordered Chase and his parents (pictured at right) to leave by next month. "They are throwing us out," said Barbara Gorski. "It's not right. We have nowhere to go."

Gulfstream Harbor management refused to discuss the matter with WESH and calls by AOL Real Estate for comment from Gulfstream's legal counsel and its parent company went unanswered at the time of publication. However, the Gorskis situation might already be familiar to those who live in age-restricted communities like Gulfstream. AOL Real Estate has reported on the issue of such rule violations before, but in those cases the residents who were seeking an exemption from age limits were themselves caregivers: They had custody of young grandchildren.

Among the issues of concern in those cases: That an age-restricted community could lose its exemption from anti-discrimination law if found to be making exceptions to its rules, and that its property values could be affected. A Tampa-based attorney who's written covenants for age-restricted communities in Florida told AOL Real Estate then of fears that "property values are going to plummet ... because now you have more people coming in ... and because senior citizens are not going to want to live in a community that has kids around."

Of course Daren Chase is no kid, but as WESH discloses in the video above, there might be another rule that he's breaking by living there.

More about retirement communities:
Happy End of the Road for RVers: Assisted Living on Wheels
Keys to Finding the Right Retirement Community
Retirement Community That's Open Only to Those Who Delivered

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