When 88-year-old Angie Tyma was evicted from her home, neighbours rallied to help.

One in particular went the extra mile. Danielle Calder shelled out $167,500 to buy the property and give it back to Ms Tyma on her 89th birthday.

"It’s beautiful!" said Ms Tyma when she saw the fresh paint on the house, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. "I’m happy I’m home."

She said normally a neighbor would bake her a birthday cake, but this time she was greeted with a house and the media outside.

Until her birthday, the Hudson, Florida resident lived in a local hotel for three weeks.

"I went through hell and back," she told USA Today. "I've lived in this house for 35 years."

After her husband died about 20 years ago, a family friend who lives in Europe brought the house, but stopped paying the mortgage and the lender foreclosed on the property. It was sold at auction to an investment company.

Ms Tyma was informed of the sale on 16 November - the same day the new owner turned up at the property and told her to leave.

Her belongings were packed put on the pavement outside, and the front door was locked.

Pasco County Human Services and to help her to get medicine and dentures, the newspaper reported.

Neighbors all came out to help: taking in her belongings and moving the rest into storage at the local Boys & Girls club. Her two dogs, Pepper and Ralph, went to a motel where a neighbour worked.

Ms Tyma asked Ms Calder to buy the house and rent it back to her.

Ms Calder, who splits her time between Boston and Florida’s west coast, said she did not need another house but said she "needed" Ms Tyma, who she described as the "fabric of the neighborhood".

She contacted the company who bought the property and purchased it back. She now rents it to Ms Tyma for an undisclosed amount.