It’s been two years since a Monongalia County magistrate awarded $10,000 to Mark Stephens, a landlord who sued Candice Holgorsen, ex-wife of former WVU football coach Dana Holgorsen, for breaking a lease and causing damage to his townhouse.
Last month, in a different case brought by Rodney Poland, a judge ordered the Holgorsens to pay $22,625 for back rent and damage caused to a Cheat Lake home.
That judgment was awarded by default because neither defendant responded to the suit.
That outcome didn’t surprise Stephens, he said, because the same thing happened to him — and he still hasn’t been paid.
“And I mean that house was trashed,” he said of the Cheat Lake townhouse he rented to Candice.
The townhome, on the Lakeview Golf Course, was rented to Candice fully furnished with everything from furniture to dishes and silverware to artwork, Stephens said. Damages included a door broken off the hinges, stains on pretty much all the furniture, a broken handle on the refrigerator and damage to the dishwasher — all in the matter of one year.
Stephens provided The Dominion Post with a copy of the lease, which shows Candice rented the place for $2,800 a month from December 2016 to December 2017. Dana’s name does not appear on the lease, though Stephens said the coach signed some of the rent checks.
In addition to the damage, Candice Holgorsen just “walked out” of the place and didn’t pay rent for two or three months, Stephens said.
Magistrate Darris Summers ruled in favor of Stephens in a default judgment on Feb. 15, 2018. Candice Holgorsen was ordered to pay Stephens $10,000, the maximum allowed in magistrate court, $70 in court costs and 4.5% yearly interest on the unpaid balance.
Attempts to collect that debt, including an attempt to get the money directly from her account and knocking on her door were unsuccessful, Stephens said.
As of today, two years since that judgment was ordered, he still hasn’t been paid.
It’s unclear if the judgment awarded in January has been paid. Payments are collected through the parties and attempts to reach Poland or his attorney were unsuccessful.
The Dominion Post could not find contact information for Candice Holgorsen and could not reach Dana Holgorsen through The University of Houston’s Athletics Department in time for this report.
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Morgantown Area News
'Sunday, November 17, 2024'
