In 1992, Mr. Scheidt stopped collecting rent because he said Howard County began requiring landlords to have a rental license to collect money. He said he did not want to get a license, and that he and his sisters planned to get rid of the house.
So Dr. Scheidt said he asked Lulu Moore to leave. He said he told her that he and his sisters had plans to develop the land.
Ms. Churan, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M., and Dr. Scheidt also say that Lulu Moore does not deserve the right to stay on the property, anyway, because she stopped working regularly for their family after moving into the tenant house in 1950.
"She did not work for my parents, except for special events," Dr. Scheidt said.
The Scheidts said their parents simply let the Moores stay on the property because Millard Moore helped part time on the farm and his sister Pauline worked full time as a domestic.
But most of all, they let them stay out of kindness, the Scheidts say.
They note that after their parents died, as a gift for service, they gave Millard Moore $10,000 and Pauline Moore, who died in 1981, $5,000.
"We have not been unkind," Ms. Churan said. "They haven't even thanked us."
Instead, the Moores have refused to leave the tenant house and have allowed the property to deteriorate, the Scheidts said.
The tenant house's yard has eight damaged and rusting cars, old tires, 20 cats and a rusting trailer Millard Moore lives in with his wife.
'The 11th hour'
"It's the 11th hour and you have to do something," Ms. Churan said. "We can't be landlords anymore. We don't want to be landlords."
And because of the landlord/tenant agreement the Scheidts established with Lulu Moore in 1981, Mrs. Moore is a tenant they have the right to evict, Dr. Scheidt said.
On June 20, 1993, the Scheidts issued a statement to Lulu Moore, asking her to leave the tenant house by Sept. 1.
To ensure that she wouldn't lose her home, Mrs. Moore sought out the Howard County Community Action Council, which provides assistance for people facing eviction. The private group solicited legal help from Ms. Glasco, a Columbia attorney.
"It wasn't a typical eviction case," said the director of the council, Dorothy Moore, a distant relative to Mrs. Moore. "As an elderly person, [Lulu] Moore is certainly one of our clients. We are trying to ensure that the rights of this woman are protected."
Part of Ms. Glasco's argument comes from a legal principle called "adverse possession." If a person has occupied a piece of land for at least 20 years under hostile circumstances, the person can claim adverse possession to keep the property.
Adverse possession is "a legitimate claim to make," said James Oliver, chairman of the Maryland Bar Association's real property section. "Whether she has a good case or not is another story."
The Scheidts said they have offered to help the Moores relocate, but that the Moores have refused.
"All along they said, 'We don't need help,' " Susan Scheidt said.
