By Rebekah L. Sanders and Catherine Reagor | Arizona Republic
Kathy and Kim Suszczewicz thought they would gain peace of mind when they moved into a three-bedroom rental home in a neat north Phoenix neighborhood in 2016.
The family was rebuilding from losing their life savings, car and house after Kim was diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer that required years of treatment and lost his engineering job.
Kathy Suszczewicz is a full-time caregiver to both her husband and their daughter Addie, who has developmental disabilities. Kathy had struggled to find a place to live that was affordable, wheelchair accessible and in their 17-year-old’s school district.
Even though the family had to pay a fee to the rental company, now known as Invitation Homes, just to tour the house, it was one of only two homes they could find to match their needs.
“I knew we had to jump on it quick,” Suszczewicz, 53, said. “It was a pleasant neighborhood. I didn’t think there was too much risk.”
But nearly two years after signing the lease, the Suszczewiczes say they regret moving in at all.
