The fixer-upper your friends bought must not have been in the heart of E. Palo Alto. The homes in Palo Alto go for around $800k to $2m, depending on the neighborhood and amenities. Real Estate values in E. palo Alto have no doubt increased because of redevelopment, but they don't bring anything close to $800k - more like half that or less.
Yes, she obviously lied. I'm guessing that nursing homes require employees to go to the NC dept. of justice or at least the local police department to obtain a copy of their criminal history indicating "No record found" or something like that. Since she couldn't furnish that, obviously, she probably kept putting her employer off and eventually they held her check or else told her she couldn't work until she furnished it. She filed a complaint with the sheriff over it. Pretty audacious, if you ask me.
Sorry if it misled, their house was in San Francisco.