Jessica Coleman and her Family, Suddenly Homeless

Emergency solidarity is needed for Jessica Coleman and her family after they were forced from their home in Detroit just days before Christmas. Their heat was shut off in December after their landlord sold their home to a new owner, and then they were threatened with an illegal eviction within 24 hours by a "squatter removal service", even though they were tenants and not squatters.

Jessica and her family are now living out of a hotel, and their room is paid for through January 11. But this unexpected emergency has caused them extreme financial strain. They need help with the costs of moving and storing their belongings, transporting themselves to and from work and their children to and from school (the hotel room they are staying in is much further from where they work and go to school than their home was), finding a new place to live, and feeding their five children who are one, four, eight, twelve, and fourteen years old.

Jessica Coleman and her fiance began renting the property in about April of this year from a couple named Antonio Turnage and Robin Crossley. Ms. Coleman and her fiance paid rent and paid for gas/electrical service, though the bill was never put in their name.

In December, the couple who Jessica and her family rented from sold the home to a company called B and B Development, and the heat was suddenly shut off. Ms. Coleman has tried to get the heat turned back on, but DTE Energy told her they need documentation from the new owner. Ms. Coleman has called the company that now apparently owns/manages the home to ask them to send what DTE needs, but DTE Energy says it still hasn't received the necessary documentation.

Then on December 20, Ms. Coleman found a notice posted on her door accusing her of being a squatter and saying that if she and her family didn't vacate their home in 24 hours a "squatter removal service" would evict them, remove all their belongings, and perhaps prosecute them "to the fullest extent of the law".

Ms. Coleman and her family are not squatters. They have a lease signed by the old owners and paid rent. Even if the property was sold, they are what are known as "holdover tenants" and are entitled under the law to have the heat turned back on as soon as possible and to not be evicted without at least a month's notice and a court hearing.

Because of the lack of heat and the threat of illegal eviction, Ms. Coleman and her family scrambled to move to a hotel room. After their first night, they were able to get a room paid for them through January 11. But they are facing a severe financial burden given the costs of moving and storing their belongings, transporting themselves to and from work and their children to and from school (the hotel room they are staying in is much further from where they work and go to school than their home was), finding a new place to live, and feeding their five children who are one, four, eight, twelve, and fourteen years old.

Joe McGuire, who works with the housing justice group Detroit Eviction Defense and has been working with Jessica Coleman, will initially receive donations by necessity since Ms. Coleman does not have a bank account. He will relay donations to her on a daily basis.

Please donate what you can and share this fundraiser widely.