What started as a long-term Airbnb rental agreement in Rocky Hill has spiraled into a full-blown eviction battle. Ellen Lima has been trying to evict Dana Elise Silverman from her personal residence since early April. 

Originally, Silverman signed a three-month Airbnb contract with Lima. Silverman says that she was staying in Rocky Hill temporarily while sorting out a deal with her father’s estate, which should have ended with her owning a home in the state. Silverman’s initial move-out date was May 25, but the deal was supposed to be closed almost two weeks before that. 

During that time, Lima, who is a nurse who works part-time in California, was going to be out of state.

But things soured quickly in early April, exactly 31 days after Silverman moved in, according to Lima.

Lima says that she got a text from a handyman she sent over to the apartment. That man, who also works as a parole enforcement officer, claimed that Silverman tried to sell him drugs. When she got that message, she contacted Airbnb and the company terminated Silverman’s account. 

Silverman denies that she tried to sell the handyman drugs. Silverman, who says she is a microdosing coach—a career she says she pursued after getting bad advice from another dosing coach—said she was on the phone speaking to a friend in Colorado, advising them on how to safely process lion’s mane mushrooms. At the same time, she was processing a type of oil for her apothecary business.

Silverman believes that the handyman overheard this conversation and saw Silverman hand a Ziplock bag of pills containing epilepsy medication to a friend who was with her at the time. The handyman then jumped to the conclusion that she was trying to sell him drugs and contacted Lima. 

Silverman not only insists that she would never sell drugs illegally, but said she knew the handyman was a law enforcement officer from the moment she saw him because she could “read tattoos” and that it wouldn’t make sense for her to try and sell him drugs on that basis alone. 

After this alleged incident, Lima wanted Silverman to move out immediately, but it wasn’t so simple. Connecticut law requires a formal eviction process for anyone who has lived on a property for more than 30 days. 

Around this time, Silverman’s Airbnb account was shut down because she allegedly violated the terms and conditions. That was how she had previously been paying Lima to stay in her apartment. After that, Lima started sending Silverman Zelle requests, but Silverman didn’t respond. She said that, since Lima got a lawyer, she would only interact through counsel going forward. 

In the end, Lima said she only got two months of rent from Silverman. 

“I’ve been renting out homes since I was 21 years old. I’m 32, never had an issue. It’s the first time,” Lima said. “Maybe it was just like my time to experience something bad, because I haven’t had a bad experience.”

The relationship between the two women was rocky from the start. 

Silverman was unhappy with the apartment as soon as she moved in: she claimed that the weather strip in the door was old and caused her to trip, giving her a concussion; there was dirt underneath the rugs, which she had rolled up and put in a corner as soon as she moved in because of her allergies; that the pans in the kitchen, which she never planned on using in the first place because she only uses kosher cooking implements, had scratches on them; the washer and dryer, and AC units were not working; and that a closet door in the bedroom kept falling on her when the upstairs neighbors would stomp, which she claims also gave her a concussion. 

“There were red flags to begin with that I sadly ignored and just kind of chalked it up to like, maybe she’s just one of those needy people and, like, she’s like, OCD or something, and it bothers her,” Lima said. “I don’t know, but really, she’s crazy.”

Silverman, who says she has over 70 diagnosed medical conditions including autism, mast-cell activation syndrome, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, hepatitis C and a “70% chance of liver cancer,” insisted that Lima was violating her rights as a disabled tenant by changing her internet name and refusing to fix an AC unit.

Since the eviction battle began, Silverman claims that Lima somehow disabled the electronic locks in the apartment, locking her in. Silverman told Inside Investigator that, in response, she used a boot clip and a sledgehammer to destroy the locks. She also claimed that there was a problem with the AC unit inside the apartment and bought a new unit, which she plans to have installed in the next few days. 

Silverman has also been getting into fights with Lima’s neighbors. Lima says she is receiving texts from a family with young children who live in the same building, claiming that Silverman was yelling at them. Silverman said that she did yell at a family of young children, but only because they were blocking the fire escape and harassing her dogs. Silverman also claims that some neighbors made false police reports, claiming that her service animals are too loud.

Lima says her hands are tied. She tried to call the police on Silverman for trespassing, but was told that they couldn’t enter the apartment without Silverman’s permission, because she was a legal resident. While they came to the apartment a number of times to address complaints against Silverman, they cannot escort Lima to collect her personal items from her house now. 

“I’m obviously paying the mortgage. I can’t shut off the power because it’s illegal,” Lima said. “I’m literally paying, I am supporting another adult… who I don’t even know. I’ve never even met this woman.”

Silverman also says she is stuck in a bind. She claims she wanted to move out of the apartment, but Lima made posts on Facebook and other social media accounts accusing Silverman of being a scammer. This “libel,” as Silverman describes it, has prevented her from finding a new apartment to rent. She has two small dogs, who she says are service animals. Because of them, she can’t just move to a motel either. 

“It’s been hell, and like, we’re still going through the whole process, and hopefully we’ll get a court date soon,” Lima said. 

In the meantime, Lima is staying in California with her parents. 

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