Accidental Landlord Leaves Home, Now in Court Battle to Evict Invited Guests
Back in June, Judson Randall invited Elizabeth and Jessica Sewall to stay in his Safety Harbor, Fla., home when he heard the mother and daughter were down on their luck.
Now, more than seven months later, he is still battling to get them out.
“After living for six months separate from the women in what could be described as a mother-in-law suite in the rundown 61-year-old house, Randall, 47, finally moved to his office in Tampa to get away from them,” reports the St. Petersburg Times. “They were sucking the life out of me,” he says.
When Randall put their belongings out on the porch, after several months, as he says a lawyer told him he had a right to do, the Sewalls complained to authorities and he was told he had to pursue legal action to remove the two women according to the proper procedure, the Times article recounts. An ejection order was granted and served last month, but the Sewalls didn’t comply with it. So now another order is being sought from a local judge.
However, the two women indignantly claim it is they who are the victims in the situation. Their efforts to paint the house have been stymied because Randall never supplied them with materials, and they never agreed to pay rent, Elizabeth Sewall, 50, tells the newspaper. She has complained to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office several times, contending, among other accusations, that Randall took $500 from one of the purses he put outside with her other belongings in his failed attempt to lock her and her 20-year-old daughter out and that he has trespassed in their home.
The Sewalls at one point sought a restraining order against Randall, but reportedly didn’t get it because they were no-shows at a court hearing. As the Times article notes, it is difficult for them to get around because they have no car.
