Stevie Wonder‘s reported one-time fiancée is pushing back against his attempts to boot her from the Hollywood Hills home she’s been living in rent-free since 1988.
Carmen Efferson filed a response to Wonder after his legal team sued her last month in a Los Angeles superior court and demanded she move out of Wonder’s three-bedroom home. In the Tuesday filing obtained by Rolling Stone, Efferson is accusing Wonder of breach of warranty of habitability — claiming he failed to maintain the property in conditions fit for human living. Among the complaints made in the filing, Efferson has alleged the home has damp or leaking ceiling/walls; holes in the walls/floor/carpet; damaged window screens and plumbing; dampness/mold, and more.
Efferson has asked a judge to order Wonder to pay for her attorney fees, make repairs to the home, and reduce the monthly rent to a “reasonable rental value” until the conditions are corrected. In the filing, Efferson also claims that she “has paid rent and/or provided other nonmonetary consideration or services in exchange for the right to occupy the premises.” Elsewhere, she disputes the title of the property and claims Wonder is “not the owner of the subject premises and therefore lacks standing” to evict her.
A lawyer for Wonder did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In Wonder’s complaint filed Oct. 22, Efferson and the singer allegedly reached an oral agreement allowing her to live there rent-free for nearly 40 years. However, when it came time to access the house as part of Wonder’s property insurance renewal, representatives for the singer attempted to enter the home three times in July for inspection. Efferson refused to allow them to enter the property, and instead shot an email to Wonder’s lawyer David Huff saying “fuck the fuck off,” according to exhibits in the lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone.
“Regarding your ORDERS of entering into the place where I am living, I do not consent. Do not make any attempt to make any kind of contact with me,” Efferson wrote to Huff in response to certified mail requesting entry to the property. After a few more emails, another lawyer informed Efferson that the oral agreement between her and Wonder had been revoked due to noncompliance and attorneys were serving her an eviction notice with a move-out date of Aug. 27, 2026.
That deadline came and went without Efferson departing the property, resulting in the civil lawsuit against her. Wonder is asking a judge to order Efferson be removed from the Hollywood house, as well as pay damages of $600, the amount he now owes due to lapsed property insurance renewal.
This article was originally published on Rolling Stone.
