The 76-year-old hitmaker asked a California court on Oct. 22 to allow the eviction, alleging that Carmen Efferson violated their agreement.
Stevie Wonder’s ex-fiancée, Carmen Efferson, has lashed out at the singer as he seeks to evict her from the Los Angeles home where she has lived since 1988.
The 76-year-old hitmaker asked a California court on Oct. 22 to allow the eviction, alleging that Efferson violated their agreement by refusing to let insurance inspectors inside the property.
Efferson disputes his effort to remove her, insisting that Wonder verbally promised she could keep the home.
Now, in an interview with the Daily Mail, she has accused her former partner of being a “gaslighter and a manipulator,” claiming that she does not want him to “get away” with his behavior.
“He’s going to paint this like I am the one who is lying, and there is no talking to this fool. I’m so sick of someone like him always getting away with this s--t. Nobody wants to say this, but I know that he is a gaslighter and a manipulator,” she told the outlet.
Efferson maintained that the home was promised to her through a verbal agreement, claiming that Wonder had initially pushed her to accept it.
Stevie Wonder’s ex-fiancée, Carmen Efferson, has lashed out at the singer as he seeks to evict her from the Los Angeles home where she has lived since 1988. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI) “I didn’t even want the house at first—but he kept insisting. I’ve never been a materialistic person, and I never asked for a house. But we came to an agreement, a verbal one, that this would be my house,” she said.
The court filing, however, alleges that Efferson breached their arrangement when she denied access to inspectors who needed to assess the property for insurance purposes.
According to the complaint, Efferson was notified on July 23 that inspectors would visit on July 30 to “conduct an inspection for the purposes of maintaining insurance coverage on the Property.”
She allegedly responded two days later, saying that she was “feeling harassed” and did “not consent” to the inspection.
Efferson was then served with a 30-day eviction notice the following day, according to the filing, but allegedly remained in the home after the notice period expired.
The complaint characterizes her continued occupancy as “malicious” and seeks forfeiture of the verbal agreement, along with “reasonable attorney fees.”
Experts agree the real point of contention here is the lack of any type of documentation about their arrangement.
“A lack of a written agreement creates a major problem when issues arise. When there is a breakup involved or parties want to separate, the owner might believe they can immediately require the person to leave. The tenant, on the other hand, may decide to stay as long as they want,” says Ashley Morgan, attorney and owner at Ashley F. Morgan Law PC in Chantilly, VA.
The 76-year-old hitmaker asked a California court on Oct. 22 to allow the eviction, alleging that Efferson violated their agreement by refusing to let insurance inspectors inside the property. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) 
Now, in an interview with the Daily Mail, she has accused her former partner of being a “gaslighter and a manipulator,” claiming that she does not want him to “get away” with his behavior. (Katja Ogrin/Getty Images for ABA)) If someone is living in your property for the long term or plans to in the future, a written agreement could protect your rights as an owner and prevent costly legal disputes if the arrangement falls apart.
In many states like California, Florida, and Texas, leases lasting longer than a year typically must be in writing to be enforceable.
However, regardless of the landlord-tenant laws in your state, a written agreement is always a good idea.
“A written agreement can establish the terms of the arrangement and how it can be terminated. It’s also the best evidence if a dispute arises," says Parag L. Amin, attorney and founder of LawPLA in El Segundo, CA.
Without one, the terms are often contested and must be reconstructed from emails, texts, and other communications.
“Even when state law provides a legal process, such as an unlawful detainer action, which allows owners to remove someone living in their property, disputes over informal living arrangements can turn into lengthy, costly legal battles, as shown by the Stevie Wonder case,” says Steve Wallace, attorney at Wallace Law in Boynton Beach, FL.
If you think of someone as a “guest” in your property, you may be surprised and disappointed if you ask them to leave and they don’t.