The congressional impasse over the Affordable Care Act caused a federal government shutdown that closed every park, monument, and battlefield under its jurisdiction. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

The government shutdown has forced an elderly couple out of their Lake Mead, Nev., home – because it sits on federal land.

Ralph and Joyce Spencer, 80 and 77 respectively, drove into town for supplies last Wednesday and on their way back they found two rangers blocking their way. They were given less than 24 hours to pack their things, after which, the road would be barricaded.

“One of the rangers, a guy that we know, he said ‘I’m really sorry to tell you this but you have to move out, you have to leave,’” Joyce Spencer told Al Jazeera.

The Spencers have owned the house since the 1970s and run an ice cream shop in nearby Overton, Nevada. Joyce said the ranger who gave them the news is a "good guy" who comes into the ice cream shop all the time.

“They said it’s just like in 1995 during the last government shut down and I said they didn’t do any of that,” Joyce said.

The Spencers’ property is classified as a vacation cabin, and they pay a yearly lease on the land that goes to the national recreation area because the property sits near Lake Mead. Joyce told Al Jazeera there is a clause in the contract that says it can’t be a permanent residence, and they usually stay there “about half of the time.”

While Joyce says she’s not mad, she told Al Jazeera that the experience has been frustrating and inconvenient, “The lot’s ours and we own it -- we have a right to be there.”