John Potter, 91-Year-Old WWII Veteran in Ohio, Faces Eviction by Daughter
John Potter, a WWII veteran, revealed that his own daughter will evict him next week from the house in Zaleski, Ohio, that he built himself 56 years ago after a judge overturned an previous ruling.
The issue started in 2004, fearing his and his wife's declining health, Potter decided to transfer his power of attorney over to his daughter. But in 2010, he realized his daughter had used that power of attorney to transfer the deed of his home to herself.
Potter took his daughter to court, arguing that it was illegal for a person with power of attorney to transfer assets to themselves. He won the case, but lost again in an appeals court last year due to a four-year statue of limitations. He has since transferred his power of attorney to his granddaughter, Jaclyn Fraley, 35.
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"I just cannot believe my daughter would ever do anything like that to me," Potter told ABC News during a recent interview.
It was initially thought that Potter could buy off his daughter and an online campign was started. More that 5,000 online donors raised $138,000 for Potter to buy back the home from his daughter, Janice Cottrill, but she rejected his offers and demanded twice what the property is worth.
"I laid awake at night trying to figure out what in the world I could have done to these people to make them so angry at me," Potter told ABC.
Potter stated that he did not offer his daughter more money because he did not want to give her more money than the house is worth. He has resided in the house for more than 50 years.
"When I got out of the army and got on my feet on the ground, I rented a power shovel and dug a hole in the ground, built a basement and built a house on top of it," he told ABC.
