Uncle on eviction of family of 7: They stopped paying rent

Lauren Maloney and her daughter, seven, and son, six, on Laventille Road, San Juan, after they were evicted from their home by a relative on Monday. - Angelo Marcelle
Lauren Maloney and her daughter, seven, and son, six, on Laventille Road, San Juan, after they were evicted from their home by a relative on Monday. - Angelo Marcelle

The owner of the house from which a family of seven was evicted on Saturday said he "tried" with the family as long as he could, but they were just too unco-operative.

On Tuesday, Newsday reported that Lauren Maloney, her four children, her mother and her brother were "suddenly" evicted from the house they had been living in since their own home was destroyed in a fire in June 2019.

“It wasn’t sudden,” said Keith Raymond, Maloney’s maternal uncle and owner of the house.

Raymond spoke to Newsday by phone on Wednesday.

“I gave them time to find a place.”

Raymond said he spoke to his niece five months ago and forewarned her he would be evicting the family soon because he planned to sell the house.

“I told Lauren, ‘Get a place for you and the children. They are coming to put you out.’”

Raymond said after the family lost their home in the fire, his sister said they could move into the property at Laventille Road, San Juan.

“She told them that without my permission.”

After they moved in, Raymond said, a rental agreement was made, but the family only paid rent for the first two months.

He said the family was successfully evicted but moved back into the house a few weeks later.

“I tried with them, I really tried, (but) they weren’t paying rent so I had to evict them.

Raymond insists the house belongs to him. “I could not have gotten a bailiff to put them out if I didn’t have a deed.”

Maloney disputes her uncle's claims, saying they were never made to pay rent.

“We only had to pay a light bill,” she said, adding her uncle told the family if someone else bought the house, they would have to make a rental agreement with the new owners.

Maloney claims her uncle gave the family his blessing to stay in the house after the fire when her aunt’s then husband negotiated on their behalf.

Her aunt's husband, she said, "called my uncle and told him we had nowhere else to go and he agreed.”

Maloney said since then, this is the third time her uncle has tried to evict the family.

Disturbing phone calls

Maloney said while a few people have offered help, she has also received phone calls from several men offering to trade sexual favours in exchange. The 27-year-old mother of four said she was very upset by the calls.

“I am not doing that,” she insisted.

She said the family still needed help finding a place to stay or jobs. She also said, with school around the corner, she needed devices for her four children, who will now be going to school virtually from September.

Maloney said she went to the Ministry of Social Development for help after the fire but has, so far, not received grants promised to them at that time.

Since then, she has applied for grants for clothing, household appliances and other assistance.

To date, Maloney said she has only received a grant for schoolbooks for her children, aged two, four, six and seven.

Maloney said she has not yet heard from the Housing Development Corporation about her request for housing aid, but the Office of Disaster Preparedness contacted the family to offer a tarpaulin to cover their belongings, which her uncle left at the side of the road.

Anyone who would like to assist the family can contact Lauren Maloney at 792-3357.

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