Elderly Woman Without a Home After Being Evicted

Tonight, an elderly woman from Belize City is reaching out for help to rebuild her life from scratch. Gertrude Hunter, a familiar name in the news, first caught our attention earlier this year when police officers tried to evict her from her home under a court order. The Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, even reprimanded his officers for reportedly tossing her belongings out during the eviction. Despite receiving numerous legal notices to vacate, Gertrude stayed put, claiming that her common-law husband had left the property to her in his will. But in August, she was finally removed from the home, leaving her displaced just as the Christmas season approaches. This saga, filled with legal battles and frequent police encounters since 2015, centers on a sixty-three-year-old woman yearning for a fresh start. News Five’s Paul Lopez brings us her story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Christmas season is here, bringing joy and celebration for many. But for one sixty-three-year-old woman in Belize City, there’s little to cheer about. After losing the home she cherished for over a decade, the holidays are looking bleak.

 

Gertrude Hunter, Belize City Residents

“I am experiencing a lot of police harassment. Since my common law Benjamin Ferguson was removed away from me by force and then police stay harassing me to tell me get off the place, get off the place and they just keep removing me off the place, saying I am just a squatter, they don’t know who I am, when I was there by my common law, Benjamin Ferguson.”

 

To grasp Hunter’s situation, we need to revisit the early aughts. That’s when she moved into a home at the corner of Cemetery Road and Amandala Drive with her common-law husband. The house that once stood there is now gone. According to Hunter, her husband’s relatives separated them in 2015. Despite staying on the property, she’s been battling constant ownership disputes ever since.

 

Gertrude Hunter

“The only time I get to see him is when a friend comes in hospital, and I get to see him in there. His friend gave me the bad news that he was on his last. And so, when I went to the hospital to look for him the security went there said anybody who wants to see him, only the name that was there, was supposed to see him.”

 

Back in February, Hunter’s legal woes made headlines as efforts to evict her from her home intensified. At one point, she found herself in the Belize City Magistrate Court, facing charges of property damage, two counts of aggravated assault on police officers, and trespassing. Hunter, however, insists that the police roughed her up, leaving her with injuries and locking her up for two days. That case is still ongoing. She maintains that her common-law husband left her the Cemetery Road property in his 2011 will, and she has the documents to prove it.

 

Gertrude Hunter

“The will state that the property should leff with his common-law wife, Gertude Hunter.”

 

On the other hand, a 2018 land transfer document shows that the land was transferred to one of her common-law husband’s relatives. After that, the legal notices kept piling up, demanding she leave the property. In 2019, a civil suit ruled in favor of her common-law husband’s relative. Hunter, however, claims she had no idea the case was even happening. The elderly woman maintained that she is the rightful owner of the property based on the will in her possession and stayed on the property. But in August of this year, the property was sold to a new owner who sent her a legal notice, ultimately forcing her to leave the home for good.

 

Gertrude Hunter

“I really hard. It was hard, because it was a constant harassment from time to time nuh. I live in a constant harassment from 2015 is when it really get worse you know. It really get worse.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What are you doing now, or where are you staying?”

 

Gertude Hunter

“I stay at my little sister…”

 

Thankfully, Hunter isn’t completely without a roof over her head—her younger sister has kindly taken her in. Hunter admits she doesn’t have the financial means to continue the legal battle. The Ombudsman’s Office has acknowledged her claims about the property and the alleged police brutality. At this point, Hunter just wants to move on with her life, even if it means starting over at her age.

 

Gertude Hunter

“I have a phone number, six, two, eight, one, zero, two, nine and I also have my sister number, six, zero, four, one, three, nine, one. And if you can’t get me on those numbers, because I am at my daughter sometimes, that number is six, three, six, one, zero, two, two.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.