Inside Serena Williams’ stepmother’s battle over the star’s dilapidated childhood home while exposing the true extent of her debts
SERENA Williams’ stepmother nearly lost the tennis star’s dilapidated childhood home after years of spending thousands of dollars and racking up more than $600,000 in debt.
“King Richard” Williams and his ex-wife, Lakeisha Juanitahave been in a legal dispute over Venus Y serene $1.1 million childhood home in Florida since their messy divorce in 2017.
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The four-bedroom property in Palm Beach Gardens has been on the family name for 27 years since he bought the notebook with Serena’s mom oracene in 1995 for $355,000 and kept it after divorced in 2002.
But the place has been at the center of a crazy legal battle caused by RichardLakeisha’s ex-wife, who is 43 years his junior.
The legendary tennis coach lost the 10-acre home after Lakeisha allegedly forged his signature on the title deed to the property to obtain a $255,000 mortgage with “tough lender” David Simon.
Since then, the property has fallen into disrepair as Just stopped making payments after supposedly free spending over $600,000according to Palm Beach County property records.
In Court documents, Simon’s lawyers accused her of ruining a failed trucking business and spending every penny on “fast food and frivolities.”
Simon has been trying to scratch his money he has been back in court since 2017, which now stands at around $623,000 including interest, and he wants the house auctioned off to pay off his debt.
house photospresented as evidence in court, revealed that the motives and the main house is rottingthe cars appear to have been abandoned on the property, there is internal damage from the roof leak, the bathrooms are dirty, and the a/c units are falling apart.
While real estate sites value the place at more than $1.4 million, the actual figure is almost half that amount due to its dilapidated state.
Lakeisha, 37, had tried to delay foreclosure on the property by filing for bankruptcy three times, but two of those attempts were scrapped and now the third is hanging by a thread.
The 37-year-old argues in her court papers that she doesn’t need to sell the home and can stick to a payment plan of $8,000 a month, something she hasn’t been able to do so far.
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He also owes it to companies that appear to have been involved in his damned trucking business, like auto finance firms Embassy Loans and Tidewater Finance.
Richard, stricken with insanity, claimed in court that his younger wife transferred the deed to their house without his permission and obtained a $152,000 mortgage from Simon in February 2017 after imitating his deed.
Then he borrowed another $123,000 a couple of months later and only paid back about $25,000.
In Simon’s deposition, he revealed that Lakeisha approached him about the loan after seeing a “for sale” sign on his $79,000 Volvo semi-truck.
Simon would only sell the truck to Lakeisha if he had property as collateral, which was in Williams’ name, so Lakeisha transferred the deeds to his name by allegedly forging her husband’s signature.
But Simon recovered the truck in June 2018 after it broke in half in Long Island City, 1,200 miles from his home, causing $30,000 in damage.
Simon recently told the court that Lekeisha has restarted the business and is earning cash again, but it will never be enough to cover the debt.
A court document says: “No matter how much money her trucking business makes each month, she spends all of her income each month without paying a dollar to the secured party. [i.e Simon].”
New court documents reveal that as of July 21, 2022, Lakeisha owed Simon $586,109, which includes $255,018 of the borrowed principal, $182,017 of 18 percent interest, and attorney’s fees of $103,824.
But that figure has since risen, as Simon’s legal team, DGIM Law, is seeking another $37,340 for his fees to date, which Lakeisha is contesting.
This brings a total of $623,449 owed by Lakeisha.
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