A Single Mom Died. A Man She'd Met on a Dating App Claimed They Were 'Common Law Married' to Live in Her House

Wendy Clark met Jack Cole after her adult daughters moved out of her house in 2015, and according to a new Hulu doc, he refused to leave her home after she died

NEED TO KNOW

• Wendy Clark met Jack Cole on a dating app, and in a new docuseries, her family alleges he lied about their relationship after she died in order to continue living in her house
• “He wasn’t even at the hospital on the day of her death,” Wendy’s friend Meghan Cobern claims in Squatters: Get The F*** Out of My House
• After Cole was evicted from the home, he reportedly tried to sue the Clark family for $400,000

A woman in Colorado met a man on a dating app, and her family alleges that he lied about their relationship after she died in order to continue living in her house.

Single mom Wendy Clark struggled with loneliness after her two adult daughters moved out of her home in 2015. She ended up meeting a man named Jack Cole on a dating app and the two became friends, and later roommates. However, the situation got messy when she died two years later.

Wendy and her family’s story is told in episode 3 of the Hulu docuseries Squatters: Get The F*** Out of My House, which premiered on Thursday, June 4.

“As soon as Wendy met Jack, she knew there was no attraction, and she knew there was nothing between them, and it would just be a friendship,” Wendy’s sister Michelle Clark says in the episode.

When Cole was looking for a place to live, Wendy rented him a room because she was struggling financially. But after about a month, Cole stopped paying rent, her daughter Taylor Clark claims in the doc.

“I had told her, you have to get rid of this guy. You have to get him out of there. And she wanted him gone,” Taylor says.

According to her daughter, Wendy asked Cole to leave multiple times and said she would go through the legal eviction process. But at the same time, her health started declining. She later fell into a coma and was placed on life support, to the surprise of her loved ones.

“I didn’t realize Wendy had been so sick because she kept everything to herself. She didn’t want to worry people. So everything was such a shock,” Wendy’s mom Gerry Clark says.

Wendy died in the hospital in October 2017, according to KOAA News 5.

The Clark family went to Wendy's home after she died but allegedly were denied entry by Cole, per the docuseries. They called the police and Cole allegedly claimed he and Wendy were “common law married” and that he was a partial owner of the house.

Recalling Cole's claims, Wendy’s friend Meghan Cobern alleges, “That’s asinine. He wasn’t even at the hospital on the day of her death."

Police said Cole was a legal resident and the family wasn’t allowed inside the house. While the family fought back, they allege that Cole got rid of Wendy’s belongings and was inviting others into the home. 

“We begged the police to help us, but they said it’s not criminal; it’s just a civil matter,” Gerry says. 

KOAA News 5 reported that police were called to Wendy’s home 19 times between November 2017 and the end of January 2018.

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Three months later, a judge reportedly evicted Cole, and the family was granted entry into the home. When they got inside, they claim, it was completely destroyed, with all of Wendy’s clothes missing, along with furniture and other belongings. 

“It was like losing Wendy all over again,” Michelle remembers.

The family eventually sold Wendy’s home because, according to them, there was over $40K worth of damage. Cole denied damaging the home or selling Wendy’s belongings.

Two years later, Michelle received a letter claiming that she had lost a lawsuit to Cole and owed him $400,000 for injured feelings, per the docuseries. She says she later discovered that the documents in the lawsuit were forged, according to the docuseries. A News5 Investigation also reported on the alleged falsified documents. Per the doc, Cole didn't show up in court. 

As this played out, Cole was reportedly in prison for an unrelated crime. 

The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. Michelle claims she moved homes to avoid future communication from Cole. 

Cole claims in a statement to the docuseries producers that he was in a relationship with Wendy. He was never criminally charged in the alleged squatting incident. Asked about allegations in this episode, Cole said: "There's usually truth mixed in with lies."

Squatters: Get the F*** Out of My House is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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