There are quite a few questions surrounding the Epps family from TLC’s Seeking sister Wife reality series. We’ve previously reported on the questions surrounding Marcus Epps’ multiple political scandals, the fact that he has at least 10 children, and his prior domestic violence arrest. However, we haven’t addressed one of the most asked questions from Season 5 viewers: Why is Marcus Epps and the rest of the Epps family living in Florida?
The Epps residing in the Sunshine State seems especially puzzling given the fact that Marcus is an elected official in Ohio.
Viewers are not provided much of an explanation during TLC’s introduction to the Epps family. “Life is quite interesting these days,” Marcus says in his intro. “Flying back and forth between Ohio and Florida with my family being primarily here for the winter.”
That’s pretty much the only information viewers get as to why the Epps family is living in a house in Orlando. Does they migrate every year? The notion seems quite odd given that there are several children involved, including one young man that is just a friend of the family. It’s also odd because Marcus often boasts about how proud he is of his hometown of Euclid, Ohio.
Do the Epps own their Florida house?
The Epps family lives in what looks to be a very nice house in Orlando. If they only reside in Florida in the winter, what happens with the house in the summer? Do they rent it out as an AirBNB? Do they even own the house?
Orange County property records indicate that the house is not owned by any member of the Epps family. The house was listed for rent in August of 2021 for $2,495 a month, which would line up with the winter time migration of the Epps family.
It’s interesting to note that the front of the house shown on Seeking Sister Wife is not the same house where the interior scenes were filmed. Social media posts made by the Epps family over the past few months clearly show the same interior as seen on TLC.
It’s possible that producers elected to show the exterior of a different house to help protect the location of the Epps family. It might also be possible that producers filmed footage of the front of the house first, at a time when the Epps lived in a different house. That is purely speculation.
Marcus Epps’ 2021 house fire
As mentioned in our post about Marcus Epps’ political scandals, a Euclid, Ohio house owned by him was severely damaged by fire in March of 2021. Could that be the reason the Epps family decided to move to Florida? Perhaps they were just living there while repairs were being made?
Marcus Epps was officially charged with numerous housing violations in January of this year precisely because he DIDN’T repair the fire damages to the home. As it turns out, the property is a duplex and the other resident(s) remained living there despite the fire damage.
“It smells really bad,” resident Teteree Hines told 19 News. “Inside, it’s smelling. Outside, it’s smelling.”
The house was raided by police with a search warrant in July of last year. Marcus said that it was all due to a political witch hunt. From 19 News:
“It’s all political, it’s all about at our next city council meeting I am trying to mandate body cameras by our officers,” Epps said, “And the day before this search warrant was executed I was in the mayor’s office going in on them about a demolition project that started on Euclid Avenue and it is a catastrophe.”
Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail and Police Chief Scott Meyer, are, however, on record, from recorded council meetings as being in favor of body cameras for officers in the department.
#BREAKING: @cleveland19news is at the home of Euclid City Councilman Marcus Epps, where police are executing a search warrant in connection with a fire there earlier this year. https://t.co/mSIv9JooXf pic.twitter.com/NZOqXoGL9T
— Misty Stiver (@mistystiver) July 29, 2021
The house fire property was also the one that Marcus is behind on his taxes for. He has unpaid property taxes for the location predating the house fire.
GoFundMe for Marcus Epps house fire
The day after the house fire, a GoFundMe was launched by attorney DeAngelo Little. It was titled “Help our Councilman pick up the pieces” and had a fundraising goal of $10,000.
Here’s the description from the campaign:
If you can’t contribute, please pray for this family! Councilman Marcus Epps’ home went up in flames yesterday morning due to a kitchen fire. It is not only his family who this has impacted, but another family as well. We want to try and help them and this family in any way that we can.
Ohio voting records indicate that Marcus and his wife Taryn both list their address as the house that caught fire. India’s address on the Ohio voter registration website is different. Strangely, the GoFundMe officially lists India as the beneficiary?
County property records indicate that the house only has 1,374 square feet of living space, but I have to assume that is incorrect. The house does seem rather small for the Epps family, especially considering that it was a duplex with another resident.
You can see a photo of the property in the News 19 tweet embedded above. Here is a similar view from Google Street Maps prior to the fire:
The GoFundMe campaign raised $2,418 of its $10,000 goal from 37 donations.
Taryn and India owned another house
In addition to the Euclid property owned by Marcus, India and Taryn also owned a house together. Land records indicate that the wives received the Cleveland property as a “gift” in February of 2019. It includes a 1,248 square foot home that looks to be a bit run down in the most recent image from Google Street Maps:
Property records indicate that Taryn and India sold the home for $50,000 in October of 2021. Perhaps that was the financial windfall that allowed for their summer migration to Florida? Maybe they should have used some of that money to pay the back taxes that property records indicate Marcus still owes on his other house?
Are the Epps moving out of their Florida home?
Based on recent social media posts by the Epps family, their winter time in Florida may be coming to a close.
In numerous videos recently posted on Instagram by the Epps from inside their Orlando home, it is clear that they are in the process of moving. There are numerous Home Depot boxes, both unassembled and partially full. Plus, there are dishes stacked up ready to be packed and photos taken off the wall.
I don’t believe they have mentioned moving, including whether or not they plan to return to Ohio.
UPDATE – The Epps family has been posting new clips from their new house, which includes a swimming pool in the back yard. I assume that the house is also in Florida since they look to have moved in a lot of their stuff already.
UPDATE – The Epps family did relocate to another Orlando area home in June of 2022. Their landlord later sued them for eviction and was granted a default judgment. However, the Epps wives have filed a motion to have the judgment vacated — and they have a solid argument.
To keep up with the on screen romances of the Epps family, be sure to tune in to new episodes of Seeking Sister Wife airing Monday nights at 10/9c on TLC!
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
