Due to the actions of police and of my accuser/abuser, I was evicted from my apartment in Lewiston in mid June. Pete and I are living in Saint Agatha now. We use one of the two homes on the property as a short-term rental.
Though the actions of my landlord were illegal - you cannot evict a tenant for the sole reason that they are experiencing domestic violence - he did agree to store some of my belongings/inventory that Pete and I could not fit into my storage units, and I thanked him for that. I'm working on listing items such as clothing at my GoDaddy store created a few months ago.
I can understand my landlord's frustration; but had it not been for the false accusations and police actions I would still be renting from him. When I reminded my landlord that the problems were not my fault, he told me not to call him for a reference.
We had to find a place to sleep because though he allowed us time to remove my belongings, he wouldn't let us sleep in the apartment past the 48 hours listed on the writ. We ended up at Heritage Court, a five story apartment complex for low income tenants. I was often cleaning one of the apartment for a man who was in and out of the hospital. I experienced some issues there after telling some of the tenants that I was being evicted.
Two different people during two different occassions tried to prevent me from entering the building; and a building inspector called the police to try to get me out! I had been to clean a few weeks earlier and seen the notice on the door, specifying the inspection date and time, and had told my customer I would be there for it so that they would not consider the unit vacated. The inspector didn't even do a proper inspection; as the elevator door was closing I mentioned "the microwave doesn't work." We ended up sleeping there ten nights...the max they allow guests to stay is fourteen.
My landlord claimed to have served me a notice on May 26, 2025. It was the exact same notice that he served me in the beginning of May...only the date was different. We hadn't even been to court yet regarding the first notice; we only got into court on it in June. So why would he do that? To get into court sooner. I did tell the judge that I thought there was an issue with his process (fraud on the court). The past due balance of $1350 was almost paid off when my landlord acted on the writ this summer.
I was late with the rent by about one week when I handed his secretary a check for half of it; he returned it to me after deciding to go through with the writ. He hasn't returned my security deposit though, or sent me a letter explaining why he kept it...and I'm contemplating whether or not to try to get it back through small claims court. When successful you get back twice the amount owed if a letter explaining the reason for keeping it wasn't sent to you. However, I'm now 5 hours away from Lewiston.
There are two customers who owe me money, about $300 each...and they do have the money to pay me. One owns restaurants in Maine, the other a dispensary in New York. If I file claims, I'll ask for hearings to be scheduled on the same day. At the very least, it will cost about $500 to get there and sleep there one night. Our oldest son, though he is part of the reason for my eviction, won't let us sleep there...another grandchild I'm not likely to be able to see much, if at all, because my son still resents that I called the police on him a few years ago; it wasn't the night that he kicked in my door...a neighbor had called that time.
I would not have fell behind in rent if I hadn't lost income due to the several arrests by Lewiston police and illegal taking of my cell phone on March 30/31, 2025. After 5 officers breeched my door and took it, they released me to the streets of Lewiston/Auburn in the middle of the night, two miles from my apartment. Pete was in Saint Agatha, and when they broke through the door with the battering ram I had just called him; all he heard was "you're being arrested Paula."
The officers would not let me speak with Pete and would not let me call him from the jail either. While sitting in the back seat of the police car, I heard one of the officers say to the other "yeah he said he was gonna replace the door anyway." They had called my landlord.
When the guard wanted me to sign the bail paperwork and said I didn't have to pay anything, he said it was the stupidest thing he'd ever seen when I told him that I wouldn't sign it. He had to go ask what to do, then made a note on the paperwork "refused to sign".
I had been arrested a week earlier, on March 24, when I went down to the station to see why officers had shown up at my apartment a few days prior. I'll post video of that on my YouTube channel eventually. I have to make sure that I don't mention my accuser/abuser's name because the judge has forbid me from exercising that right of free speech. That afternoon, I had to walk home in a huge snowstorm. Pete was at the apartment, but I had left my phone with my friend who had come with me to the station...afraid officers would take it. I stopped at a restaurant on my way home and called Pete, but he was napping and did not answer.
Though the arrests and eviction were traumatic experiences, I think the move back to the Saint John Valley was a good one. My tenant in the smaller home had just decided to move out, so we've moved into it and use the larger home strictly for short-term renters.
On February 24, 2026 by a jury in Lincoln County, I was convicted of stalking. However 12 of 14 counts, including some for resisting arrest and violations of the protection order were dropped just before trial...a good indication that I was charged for crimes when I should not have been.
I've appealed the stalking conviction, and been granted a lawyer from New York for it, but really I should have been granted a new trial because I believe the judge did make mistakes... that things were said during the trial that prejudiced the jury. My main witness will be subpoenaed if I get a new trial, and I will testify this time. While my conviction is being appealed, the 7 day jail sentence is stayed; I have also been banned from an entire town! I don't know if that condition is still on, but it doesn't matter...I don't have any reason to go there.
