Thread: Advice please: How welfare/medical benefits work in the USA

I'm a UK real estate agent and since 2008 I have been trying to sell a house for a couple one of which is a US citizen and has returned there, and she has people renting the house.

She has consistently ignored my advice on price (its too high) but by good luck I have found someone with cash in the bank willing to pay her price. She is now putting obstacles in the way of selling.

She basically said she's not really bothered if the house sells and that she's only left it on the market as she is on some kind of benefit or medicare and that if its not on the market then its viewed as an asset she could move to.

Now what annoys me is that we charge a fee on the successful sale of the property, but that basically on the understanding that people actually want to sell rather than having a hidden agenda and letting us spend money on printing postage, advertising and taking time out of our schedule to show people round without any intention of actually selling it.

I would dearly love to know if it sounds about right that she's just been using us to get benefits. We are a small family run business times are hard, I can do without people wasting my time and money, I'm livid about what seems to be a selfish attitude.

Her ex-husband is also angry that she's putting in outrageous conditions (time scales) which no buyer would agree to. While it will reflect badly on her in divorce proceedings that doesn't help anything.

How old is this woman, and does she have any dependent children and/or a disability or illness? The other question would be which state she's in, as different benefit's are administered by different levels of government (some are federal, some state or even county). You could certainly contact whichever agency she is trying to get benefits through and alert them that she is refusing to sell.


I see that she's in a divorce proceding, which complicates matters horribly.

Originally Posted by Jeltz

I'm a UK real estate agent and since 2008 I have been trying to sell a house for a couple one of which is a US citizen and has returned there, and she has people renting the house.

She has consistently ignored my advice on price (its too high) but by good luck I have found someone with cash in the bank willing to pay her price. She is now putting obstacles in the way of selling.

She basically said she's not really bothered if the house sells and that she's only left it on the market as she is on some kind of benefit or medicare and that if its not on the market then its viewed as an asset she could move to.

Now what annoys me is that we charge a fee on the successful sale of the property, but that basically on the understanding that people actually want to sell rather than having a hidden agenda and letting us spend money on printing postage, advertising and taking time out of our schedule to show people round without any intention of actually selling it.

I would dearly love to know if it sounds about right that she's just been using us to get benefits. We are a small family run business times are hard, I can do without people wasting my time and money, I'm livid about what seems to be a selfish attitude.

Her ex-husband is also angry that she's putting in outrageous conditions (time scales) which no buyer would agree to. While it will reflect badly on her in divorce proceedings that doesn't help anything.

Yeah, sounds like she's using you for medical benefits but probably not any other kind of welfare. How old is she? If she's younger than 65 or 66 she won't be eligible for medicare and would most likely go without health insurance or spend a fortune for it. If she's disabled she could get medicaid (different program) but you also have to have really low income. Income and assets are the main factor since if you have too many you would be disqualified for both. There are all sorts of ways to play the system, since it's pretty broken. I used to work as a medicaid/medicare social worker at a hospital. I had a client who was a farmer, not a rich person by any means but had a large amount of assets of just farm land and equipment. He had cancer but was unable to get on any kind of government program. I'm not sure if he ended up selling his land or not, but he probably had to.

She's a grad student in California, late 40's or early 50's and yes she has a child. Obviously I'm annoyed that she's taking the mickey as far as we are concerned but it does also annoy me when people exploit the system! She's been in the UK for much of her adult life so its not even a case that she'll have paid much tax in the US.

It seems as though engaging our services was a box ticking exercise to keep her money flowing in, I wonder if she's even disclosing the rent she gets?

Hello Jeltz,

I certainly do not want to cast aspersions here, since it is most difficult to determine the true motives for anyones actions without all the facts. Based on the information that you have at your disposal, have presented here, and what she has told you, the first thing that popped into my head was a possible looming bankruptcy on the horizon. This is of course me "reading, far between the lines" so I could be totally off base. But, if a person has no enticement for cash from an asset they are "trying to sell" and is not actively pursuing and income from it, then it would seem to me that they are either independently wealthy, so leveraged on the property that there is no benefit to sell or more likely, they don't anticipate it to be a benefiting factor in the near to long term future. It may be that she is using this real estate as a means to qualify for some type of assistance, but to me this is only the surface a more ominous underlying problem. Assuming that there is clear unencumbered title to the property and nothing to prevent the sale, I guess you have two options, fulfill your fiduciary responsibility to the close of your listing agreement and walk away, or try like mad to negotiate a deal. Its hard to to walk away since you have come so far, but perhaps you may salvage the deal. If the present seller will not agree then your cash buyer may consider making an offer on another of your listed properties in short order. I am not a lawyer so what I have said here should not be construed as legal advice just my humble opinion. I can certainly understand your frustration, economic times like these do not provide much leeway for dilly dally in business dealings. Best Regards!

Thanks for your help, if she will not agree to the sale I shall certainly be removing the house from my listings, I'm not wasting any more money. I don't think there is impending bankruptcy, I tend to recognise the signs, but I do think there more to this than meets the eye.

Whatever it is I am certain that we and our services are being used for a purpose not intended as is the benefit system over there. The stupid thing is that her ex-husband will have huge amounts of evidence that she has basically blocked the sale as all correspondence has been copied to both parties and I shall be documenting yesterdays telephone call. Such a situation is seen as unreasonable behaviour here and she's in danger of loosing out big time in the divorce settlement.

If family courts in the UK are anything like they are in the US then her behavior will have no consequences. If it were the husband causing the trouble you can believe that it would have mattered, though.

Pardon my ignorance, but how does owning/selling a house has absolutely anything to do with social health care or medical benefits?

Originally Posted by Sailor

Pardon my ignorance, but how does owning/selling a house has absolutely anything to do with social health care or medical benefits?

If a person has assets which they could use to pay for health care then they would not be eligible for benefits. In other words, only the destitute may ask for charity.

Originally Posted by joesixpack

If family courts in the UK are anything like they are in the US then her behavior will have no consequences. If it were the husband causing the trouble you can believe that it would have mattered, though.

Sadly.....they are from what I know.