CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : OAKLAND : Snafu Ends, Widow Gets Her House Back

A 78-year-old widow who lived in her car for weeks after losing her house in a tax foul-up has moved back home. Legal Aid lawyers helped Mary Amaro after her home was auctioned off for $47,000 by local officials who claimed she owed $530 in taxes. Amaro, a native of Portugal who speaks little English, had slept in the back of her green Buick in front of the modest house since deputies evicted her and padlocked the house in late August. “The eviction was tragic and morally outrageous,” said Alameda County Legal Aid Society spokesman Stephen Ronfeldt. Amaro’s troubles started in 1984 when she received a letter claiming she owed $530 in business taxes because she rented out her house. In truth, “she did not rent the house out,” Ronfeldt said.