Judge in Eviction Case Rules Against Woman Who Ran a Home for the Dying

Isobel Oxx, who opened her home to terminally ill people, lost a bid Wednesday to persuade a Ventura County judge to stop a bank from evicting her from the large house on the posh shores of Westlake Lake.

Oxx argued that Texas Commerce Bank’s loan to her was a fraud, and that thus the bank had no right to foreclose last summer on the house where she once cared for terminally ill people.

But Ventura County Superior Court Judge Joe D. Hadden quickly shot down that claim, rejecting Oxx’s argument that bank transfers or mortgages are invalid when conveyed via paper loans instead of hard cash.

“I don’t share that belief,” Hadden told Oxx during a hearing at the Simi Valley Courthouse. “And I have no confidence that those who dwell higher in the judicial food chain will side with you, either.” On Wednesday, as in previous hearings, Oxx represented herself in court.

“The bank violated its charter. The deed of trust was invalid,” she argued to Hadden. “The deed of trust was not supported by a valid note.”

But Hadden said her argument “is contrary to our whole financial system,” adding that he was saddened to rule that her position was invalid and likely to fail on appeal.

Fighting tears, Oxx refused to say afterward whether she would take Hadden’s ruling to the state appeals court.

“We’ll have to think about it for a while,” she said, then hustled out of the courthouse with a few supporters.

Hadden’s ruling was the latest in a string of defeats for Oxx’s bid to thwart the bank system using tactics espoused by Montana “freemen” follower M. Elizabeth Broderick.

Oxx was charged Monday with federal jury tampering after federal prosecutors said she tried to pass anti-government literature to jurors on the opening day of Broderick’s Los Angeles trial on charges of passing bogus checks. Broderick was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in federal prison.

Oxx lost title in September to the Westlake Village house that she bought with a $500,000 loan from Texas Commerce Bank, and saw the last of her patients move out in December.

The bank sued Oxx for unlawful detainer. Last month, Hadden ruled in the bank’s favor and ordered Oxx to pay $12,900 in damages, representing 172 days’ rent she failed to pay from the day of foreclosure.

She has also filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection from creditors, said John Saginaw, an attorney for the bank. He said the bank plans to proceed with an eviction carried out by U.S. marshals as soon as it can get the bankruptcy stayed.