Having been recently evicted by the Mortgage Corporation for non-payment, Michelle Rolle, 50, and her 18-year-old daughter Deshanne Rolle were hauled before the court on Wednesday for trespassing.
The two, who pleaded guilty to trespassing before Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans, were caught going back into their Millennium Gardens home on Monday around 7:45 p.m. by Mortgage Corporation employee Kuame Ryan. The duo had just been evicted days earlier.
That Supreme Court eviction took place on Wednesday, September 26, but on Monday, as the Mortgage Corporation employee was making checks of the property, he discovered that the women had returned to the home. He then went to the Grove Police
Station to report the matter and returned to the home with two officers.
In court, the Magistrate asked the women why they had returned to the home. The mother, Michelle Rolle said they needed to get clothing, hygiene products and school books.
Magistrate Evans also enquired how they got back into the home considering the locks would have been changed.
Michelle Rolle said her granddaughter was placed through the window and unlocked the front door.
The women explained that prior to breaking into the home, they went to the Mortgage Corporation last Thursday and waited several hours. They said that they were hoping to get assistance to return home for their personal belongings, however, they claimed they were not able to be seen and left, eventually taking matters into their own hands.
Attorney Barry Sawyer petitioned that the move to get personal items was a last resort because his clients were caught off guard by the eviction and were sleeping in their car.
Magistrate Evans asked the women when they were informed about the eviction.
According to Rolle, between the period of 2011-2016, they were called into the Mortgage Corporation for arrears. They were asked in 2015 to pay $20,000 to avoid eviction, to which they ignored.
Michelle Rolle admitted that in 2017 she was made aware that she would be evicted. However, she claimed she never saw the writ for eviction – which was dated this past March – until two weeks ago.
Magistrate Evans then asked what were they expecting; if from 2015 they refused to pay the amount from then until now.
The Magistrate told the women that any other institution would have already acted, but Rolle said she didn’t think they would actually evict her.
Magistrate Evans questioned how Rolle thought she could keep a house all this time while owing so much money.
Also, during the court hearing, it was revealed that the occupants would have had time to gather their belongings even after the last eviction notice.
On September 26, a court official, a representative from BMC and the locksmith returned to change the locks. At the time, Rolle was not at home but her mother and daughter were present.
While changing the locks, according to court records, Rolle came home and told the officials, “She will not move because Mr. Marvin Dames told her not to go anywhere”. She was then advised to speak to Dames again, and if nothing changed, they would have to vacate the property. The officials returned days later, changed the locks again and posted signs.
Magistrate Evans expressed her sympathy for the situation that the two women found themselves in, but she noted that the bigger issue was that they chose to break the law to fix it, and such a move was something that she could not overlook.
In a demonstration of mercy, Magistrate Evans fined both women $50 dollars each or two days in jail. The women paid the fine and were released, leaving the courts on their own, with their faces covered to avoid the cameras.
