Court papers say Efferson has lived there rent-free since 1988 and refused insurance inspectors entry.
Singer Stevie Wonder has sued Carmen Efferson to have her evicted from a three-bedroom house he owns in the Hollywood Hills. The suit was filed on Thursday, October 22, according to court papers obtained by Billboard. The papers say Efferson has lived in the house for 38 years under an oral agreement, rent-free.
Efferson has been in the house since July 1988, with no written lease and a monthly rent of $0, according to the lawsuit. Wonder says that arrangement has run its course.
Not much is known about Efferson. Billboard's archive credits her as a producer of the music video for Wonder's 1988 collaboration with Michael Jackson, Get It, and a tabloid report from the same year claimed the two were engaged. They never married. Since 2017, Wonder has been wed to Tomeeka Robyn Bracy, his third wife.
Wonder's representatives tried to get into the house three times in July to inspect it for a property insurance renewal, the lawsuit says. Efferson refused to let them in. Wonder says her behavior led the home's property insurance to lapse, and he wants $600 in damages for that.
Lawyers for Wonder served Efferson with several legal notices warning that they would seek her eviction if she did not let the insurance inspectors in. A notice in July ended her right to stay, his lawyers say.
In a July email to attorney David Huff, which is included in the court papers, Efferson gave her answer on the inspection:
"Regarding your ORDERS of entering into the place where I am living, I do not consent."
In the same email she wrote, "I am feeling harassed," and demanded that he stop contacting her. She accused an attorney of a racist tone. Huff reportedly replied that the lawyer who first contacted Efferson was neither white nor male, and he mentioned his grandfather's involvement in the civil rights movement.
Huff also warned that refusing the inspection could lead to eviction. "The choice is yours," he wrote. Efferson did not comply, so the attorney filed the suit.
Wonder wants a judge to order Efferson out of the house, and he is also seeking damages and legal costs. His team says she was supposed to be out by August 27 and is still there. Efferson did not immediately return Billboard's request for comment on Friday, October 23.
No comments yet