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Man Purchases Apartment Complex After Agreeing To Unusual Condition

March 8, 2023

The owner of a property management company in New York has become the unlikely guardian of a 93-year-old woman.

Brock Cvijanovich recently made a deal to buy his first apartment building in upstate New York.

The deal, however, came with an unusual condition.

Brock holds Alice's hand / The Cvijanovich family

Cvijanovich confessed to Fox News in an interview that he was actually outbid by someone else willing to pay $100,000 more for the property.

However, the owner told Cvijanovich that he would take $50,000 off the list price if Cvijanovich agreed to the specific term: he had to take care of a 93-year-old resident named Alice Schuman.

"He took a $50,000 haircut to make sure this woman is being taken care of," Cvijanovich said.

Cvijanovich happily agreed to the terms and purchased the property.

Eventually he learned that the former property owner, who was looking to retire, had been escorting Alice to the bank, to her doctor and to the grocery store. He also only charged her $200 a month for rent, while the same units in the building were going for around $2,000.

Brock with Alice / The Cvijanovich family

For over 60 years Alice had been living there, and the previous owner never had the heart to raise her rent, Cvijanovich said.

So neither did he.

Cvijanovich charged Alice only $200 for rent and he helped her with all of her errands.

A few months later, Alice had to be taken to the hospital for a medical emergency and the staff deemed Alice unfit to take care of herself. since she didn't have any living relatives or friends, she was going to be put in the state's care.

Fearing she would not receive the best care, Cvijanovich got a lawyer and became her legal guardian.

"I was visiting her every single day. They actually had a joke on the floor that she had a young boyfriend," he said. "I'd bring her food, I'd bring her flowers."

He kept her apartment empty for nearly a year while she was in the hospital, hoping that she'd be able to return home.

In January, Alice passed away from pneumonia.

Cvijanovich and his mother were there, right by her side, holding her hands.