Key Takeaways
- Eva Marcille plans to fight her HOA’s lawsuit seeking more than $22,000 in unpaid assessments and fines tied to alleged maintenance violations at her $1.8 million Atlanta home.
- The association cites overgrown grass and weeds, inoperable or unregistered vehicles, and visible trash cans, while attorney Michael T. Sterling insists Marcille is “NOT going to lose her home over weeds in her lawn or a vehicle parked outside her residence.”
- Sterling, who reconciled with Marcille in 2025 after their 2023 divorce, says the HOA weaponized fines and liens and vows to challenge it through every available legal avenue.
Eva Marcille has a $22,000 problem with her homeowners association, but the former America's Next Top Model winner isn't backing down without a fight.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum faces a lawsuit from the HOA overseeing her $1.8 million Atlanta property, which accuses her of repeatedly violating neighborhood maintenance rules. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the dispute involves everything from overgrown weeds to vehicles parked outside her residence.
The association claims Marcille failed to address multiple violations despite receiving notices and opportunities to correct them. Alleged problems include unmowed grass, untreated weeds, inoperable vehicles, expired registrations, and trash cans left in public view.
The HOA is seeking more than $22,000 in unpaid assessments and fines, along with a court order requiring Marcille to bring the property into compliance.
Her attorney, Michael T. Sterling, sees the situation differently.
"Let me be absolutely clear: Eva Marcille Sterling is NOT going to lose her home over weeds in her lawn or a vehicle parked outside her residence. Period," Sterling told TMZ.
Sterling accused the association of using its enforcement powers to intimidate homeowners over relatively minor infractions. He also referenced Georgia's Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act, arguing that homeowners deserve protection against excessive fines, liens, and other enforcement measures.
"No homeowners association should be allowed to weaponize fines, fees, and liens to intimidate homeowners," he said.
Sterling promised to challenge the association's actions through every available legal avenue.
"They picked the wrong homeowner to push around, and they picked the wrong attorney to stand in her way," he added.
Marcille, who owns a five-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion, first became a household name in 2004 when she won Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model under her birth name, Eva Pigford.
Her victory helped launch a career that extended well beyond the modeling competition. She subsequently appeared on The Young and the Restless, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and BET+'s All the Queen's Men, where she portrayed Marilyn "Madam" DeVille.
Marcille later joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta, introducing the former ANTM winner to another audience. Her personal life also became part of her reality-TV storyline, including her 2018 marriage to Sterling.
The couple divorced in 2023, then reconciled in 2025. Sterling, an attorney and former political candidate, is now representing Marcille in the HOA dispute.
Banks has accused Netflix of manipulating footage to misrepresent her involvement in controversial moments from the competition. Netflix denies those allegations and has moved to dismiss the case.
