80-year-old widow, City of Plano square off over code violations, search incident

A widow who lives in Plano says she needs help bringing her home up to code, but her attorney tells CBS News Texas she's faced threats from the city despite her situation.

Rita Rae spoke to CBS News Texas recently; her attorney, Andy Trusevich, asked that we withhold her last name. Rita Rae said she bought her home in Plano using inheritance money from her mother. Now, the 80-year-old widow says she needs additional help.

"Well, the city has decided that they don't like my house, they don't like me, and they're coming after me, she said.

Rita Rae is a heart transplant survivor and lives on a fixed income. She admits that if anything major happens to her house, it's out of her reach.

"You think you've got everything budgeted out, and then wham, something unexpected goes wrong, and there goes all the money you saved," she said.

The City of Plano told CBS News Texas that its journey with her started in June of 2024. Both sides are now in municipal court, where she faces a laundry list of deficiencies. Up first: a court date for June 8 for exterior wall issues.

Trusevich took on her case at no charge and said his client has faced the issues with the city without a support system.

"They've left door hangers and threatening letters, that 'this is what you need to fix, or we're going to criminally charge you when you have no money,' and Rita has nobody in this world," he said. "There are no relatives left."

How the impasse came to be

Trusevich believes the city should back off on the legal charges and give them six months to address the infractions. The City of Plano said it has tried to gain compliance and help the elderly woman, but nothing has worked.

"We don't want to take people to court," said Curtis Howard. "96% of our cases, our situations, are resolved through voluntary compliance."

Howard is an assistant city manager and director of neighborhood services for Plano. He oversees property standards and code enforcement for the city.

"We are an enforcement organization, but we also understand the limitations and frailties that our citizens have," he said. "And so when we come across those situations where we have, let's say, elderly individuals living in a home that don't have the financial means, that don't have family that can help them, or any other support system, we have programs in place that can potentially help them depending upon the issues that they're dealing with in their home."

In Rita Rae's case, she needed to address overhangs, soffits, damaged rain gutters, roof flashing in the home's rear, a large hole in the garage wall, and chimney bricks. She also needed to replace significant rot on door frames, paint disinfect inside the home, clean up black material, repair plumbing to stop an active leak, and repair and restore hot water to her home.

CBS News Texas obtained a search warrant from the Plano Police Department that showed officers were able to get into her home through an unsecured area. The warrant said that among the things the officers found was a leak coming from the bathroom, on the floor, and black growth on the interior surfaces within the bathroom, living room, and hallway.

Rita Rae said she refused to respond to the city after the incident; she said she woke up to strange men shining a flashlight in her face. Trusevich said that frightened her, so she never called the city back again.

"At the end of the month, she doesn't even have $15 or $150 left over," Trusevich said. "And the biggest issue I have is because they say Rita wasn't responding to them, which she didn't have a duty to do. If she has no money, what are they going to talk about?"

What's next for Rita Rae?

Trusevich has started building a team to help his client. He himself has invested several thousand dollars to help Rita Rae and has launched an online fundraiser to support repairs. Her transportation service driver, James Campfield, has become a friend to her as well, telling CBS News Texas he'd want his own mother treated fairly.

As of publication, Trusevich said they've enlisted someone to mow Rita Rae's grass; she was told by the City of Plano that her grass was three to four feet tall. The city sent a letter – as it does with any other abatement – seeking a reimbursement of $322.50 for the grass it already cut and its removal. There's a $250 administrative fee on top of that, totaling $582.50. It bears a 10% annual interest rate, and Rita has said she can't pay it. That means the city could place a lien on her house.

"We don't own any houses like that. We don't take houses," Howard said. "So we may put a lien on it at some point in the future. If that house is sold, that lien would have to be paid off. But we're not taking houses."

Howard admits that his office has started seeing more cases like Rita Rae's as the city's population ages. He also said they're willing to work with her, but she has to agree because she's refused in the past.

Now, Trusevich said, his client faces criminal misdemeanor charges over the home she used to share with her husband.

"This is going to label her a criminal at 80 years old, and she doesn't want it," Trusevich said.