Stevie Wonder Sues to Remove His Ex-Fiancée From an L.A. Home

Stevie Wonder has gone to court to remove former fiancée Carmen Efferson from a Studio City, California, house she has occupied since 1988, according to Black Enterprise, citing PEOPLE and the Los Angeles Times. His complaint, filed Oct. 22 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that she was allowed to stay rent-free but broke the deal this summer by refusing entry to insurance inspectors, then stayed past a 30-day notice to leave. He is asking the court to end the arrangement and award attorney fees and damages. Efferson has told the Daily Mail that he promised the house would one day be hers, and she disputes his account. None of these claims have been decided; the outcome will depend on the evidence and the law. The money lesson stands either way: when someone lives in a property on a handshake, put the terms in writing. A lease, a deed or a signed agreement spells out whether it is rent, a gift or a promise, and protects everyone when relationships change.