Just a little research. Tracked down her address and looked on Google Earth to see what the actual lot size and roof appearance of the house is. She lives on a court with houses of varying sizes and hers is nothing large or fancy. I have no idea what the actual sales value of her house would be. That area, near White Plains, used to be working class but has been gentrified lately so that the houses her court backs up to are large.
This is the kind of information I was talking about. If the original writer would have gone through the effort you did, and presented it as background, the story would have had an entirely different reaction. Instead it was written to make everyone angry. It appears to me that she should be thinking of selling, or get her family to help her out. If the local, county or state steps in to protect her, then it turns into a nanny-state situation.