‘I’m mad at everybody’: This retired teacher was unceremoniously tossed out of her Houston home of 45-plus years — here’s how other seniors could be at risk too

Jackson, who had lived in the home since 1977, hadn’t put the property up for sale, nor did she have any intention of moving. As it turns out, a “winding series of questionable real estate transactions” had left the retiree in an increasingly vulnerable situation.

“Let me just say, [I’m] pissed off,” she told ABC13.

Here’s how the situation unfolded — and what you can do to prevent something similar from happening to you.

What happened

Jackson told ABC13 that, just as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, her home had been in dire need of repairs — nothing too major, but enough to inspire her to seek out a handyman.

At first it seemed like kismet when a church friend recommended a man named Malcolm Pryor. According to documents reviewed by ABC13, Jackson paid for several repairs “out of pocket” before falling seriously ill for several months in 2021. But, the repairs were made and Jackson thought nothing else of it.

However, on Aug. 12, 2022, Pryor alleged that Jackson never paid him for his work and filed a mechanic’s lien on her house via his company, SDP Development. Unbeknownst to Jackson, one month later, paperwork for her property was deeded over to another company owned by Pryor, South Victory Group, LLC.

“I don’t remember signing anything with him,” she said in an interview with the media outlet. “Because I was going through therapy, trying to get over COVID, trying to learn how to walk again. And I was not necessarily feeling good.”

Two days after Pryor took legal possession, he sold the property to a local investor for a mere $50,000.

A few months later, in February 2023, the investor sold the property back to Pryor for $262,500. Records obtained by ABC13 revealed that Pryor paid for it by taking out a hard money loan from Noble Mortgage, a local financier.

However, records show that Pryor never made a single payment on the loan, forcing Noble Mortgage to foreclose on Jackson’s house within two months.

Within that seven-month timespan, Jackson’s house had had four different owners — all without her knowledge. That changed in April 2023, when a “shocked” Jackson received an envelope in the mail detailing the foreclosure and asking her to vacate the premises.

No satisfying resolution

Although Jackson scrambled to find a lawyer to take on her case, she wasn’t able to fight the eviction before she was forced to leave the home she’d owned for more than 40 years and move into a small apartment.

Making matters even worse, Jackson revealed she’d also hired Pryor to make repairs to her late mother’s home, which had been left to her in her mother’s will. Through similar documentation that Jackson also doesn’t remember signing, she lost her mother’s house. It has since been sold to investors.

A follow-up report from ABC13 reveals that on March 13, the Houston Police Department criminally charged Pryor with a second-degree felony for filing a false statement to obtain credit. In court documents, investigators allege he used fake bank statements to secure the loan from Noble Mortgage, which he then defaulted on.