Woman arrives at dad’s home after weeks of no contact and finds strangers living in his home — learns the $330,000 house transferred for $5

Two years ago, when Nora Rowland rang the doorbell of her father’s house, a caregiver named Sarah Smalls opened the door and told her that her father died three days earlier. Before Rowland could digest this shock, Smalls shut the door. Rowland climbed through a window and jumped inside the house, only to find that it wasn’t her father’s house anymore. Instead of family photos were random paintings and portraits of strangers. When Smalls noticed her, a heated wrangle erupted between the two, and Smalls revealed that her late father had transferred the $300,000 lease to the house in her name for just $5. Inside Edition talked to Rowland in an interview on September 1, 2026, which has gained over 190,000 views so far.

Caregiving or con-giving?

Rowland described her father, Robert Rowland, as an “independent” man who used home care services only when needing extra help. Eight years after he retired in 2013, he was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease, which left him little choice. In 2021, he started using the home care services. Three years later, a new caregiver from Griswold Home Care Services moved into his house. Nora was planning to move Robert to Maryland and set up a suite for him in Baltimore. Until then, this caregiver was their sole comfort.

But ever since the caregiver arrived, something was terribly wrong. For the past few days, there had been no communication between her and her father, even on her birthday or Father’s Day. So, Nora drove 460 miles to his South Carolina house to check up on him. To be told that her father had been dead for three days was not only shocking but also alarming.

Hypocrisy of caretaking

Upon deeper investigation, Nora discovered that the caregiver moved her father out of his home and into a senior living facility without her knowledge. A body camera video provided evidence from neighbors who witnessed furniture and other items being moved out of the house, with no signs of Robert. Bank statements revealed that he signed a $300,000 deed of the house in Smalls’ name for just $5 on April 17. They also showed money wired to the nurse. Meanwhile, Smalls charged a trespassing allegation against Rowland for encroaching into “her” house, and Nora was put in jail.

The battle goes on...

Rowland has fiercely claimed that the caregiver defrauded her father, physically harassed him, and forced him to sign the lease. She added that as a daughter, she should have been informed of his death. "I keep wracking my brain like, how could I have prevented this? And I really can't imagine how I would have known," Rowland told WJZ, per CBS News. She also claimed that records from the senior care facility described him as “emaciated” and “hallucinating,” which was unusual because he wasn't nearing death.

She believes that he was placed on hospice care and was given medications that affected his mental health. "We hired her to care for him. We didn't hire her to steal from him and defraud him and kill him," Nora said. Nora believes that Robert was not in a clear state of mind when he signed the lease. In addition to the $300,000 house, the caregiver has been accused of stealing about $27,000 from her father. 

Exploitation of the elderly

According to the World Health Organization, one in six people 60 years and older experience some sort of abuse in a year, usually in places like nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Another study, published by The Lancet Global Health, suggested likewise. The study showed that the global elder abuse rate is 15.7%, and the actual numbers may be much higher. Estimates indicated that of these, 11.6% were cases of psychological abuse, 6.8% of financial abuse, 4.2% of neglect, and 2.6% of physical abuse. This kind of treatment leaves the elderly even more vulnerable than they already are, often with serious negative effects on their health, their families, and the whole society on the large.

'Taken advantage of'

Two years later, the caregiver continues to live in the house while Nora is d burden of property taxes. Although the Conway police investigate the matter, Nora and her partner grapple with powerlessness and distrust. They are calling out the cause of regulating home care services and facilities. “It’s so easy for them to get taken advantage of. He was a nice man; he would never think that someone could do this to him,” she said.

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