California Couple's Live-in Nanny Stops Working, Refuses To Leave

BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 05: Children's table and chairs stand in the playroom of the "Jule" facility for single parents in Marzahn-Hellersdorf district on October 5, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The Jule project helps single parents by helping them to find jobs, job training and housing, advice on child development and day care in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, a district in east Berlin with high levels of unemployment and social problems. Currently 14 single mothers and one single father are participaring at Jule, which opened its doors in the spring of 2012. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)

Marcella and Ralph Bracamonte felt sure they had found the ideal nanny.

The live-in nanny, whom they hired through Craigslist, immediately seemed to fit in, spending time around them and handling the couple’s three kids well.

But then the nanny, Diane Stretton, 64, became almost a different person, the couple said, according to ABC News.

She stopped working and holed up in her room, emerging only to eat. She didn’t quit on the Bracamontes – in fact, she refuses to leave their home, they say. What’s more, Stretton has threatened to sue them from wrongful termination and abuse of the elderly, according to ABC.

"The first few weeks she was awesome," Marcella Bracamonte said. "She would come places with us, help out the kids. She was really great."

"All of a sudden she stopped working, she would stay in her room all day and only come out when food was ready," the mother said, adding that the former nanny is also demanding that they be away from the home from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Bracamonte said the nanny mentioned that the job was overwhelming and that she would be out of the home in about a home.

But when they attempted to get her to sign a letter articulating the agreement, she refused to sign it.

“When I asked her why she wouldn’t sign the letter she said ‘It’s not legal,’ and slammed the door in my face,” Bracamonte said, according to ABC. “Once she said the word legal, I knew it wasn’t going to be fun."

Police say they cannot remove Stretton from the Bracamonte’s home, and that they have to go through an eviction process.

"They told me it was now a civil matter,” Marcella Bracamonte said.

As the legal paperwork is processed, with Stretton's eviction notice reportedly handed to her Wednesday, the couple say they're feeling a bit terrified. In addition to taking a room in their home and eating their food, the couple says Stretton has asked that they be gone from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"I worry there's obviously something not right in her mind, and the police won't protect us until someone gets hurt," said Marcella Bracamonte.