SERENA Williams’ stepmother has finally lost the family home to pay off her huge debts – with an auction set for next month, The US Sun can exclusively reveal.
The legal battle over Richard and Lakeisha Williams’ marital home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been dragging on for years.
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In the final decision presented this week, the house will be sold in an online auction on July 18, which will pay off the $436,113 debt it owes to “tough lender” David Simon.
This all stemmed from her forging legendary tennis coach Richard’s signature on the property deed to transfer the property into her name and taking out a $279,000 loan from Simon, which she squandered on a failed trucking business.
Simon has pursued her through the courts ever since and now, seven years later, the long saga will come to an end.
Lakeisha was able to suspend the original judgment to sell the home for three years by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, but the last time failed in May as she was never able to stick to the repayment plan.
Former stripper Lakeisha, 45, met Richard, 82, at a tennis tournament in 2010 and they quickly married despite her family’s concerns.
She previously admitted to forging his signature on court documents to sell his motorhome.
Richard’s son, Chavoita LeSane, alleged in interviews with The US Sun that she cashed his Social Security checks and sold other vehicles behind his back.
Frail Richard suffers from dementia and has had three strokes.
DIVORCE REJECTED
When he found out about the change in the property deed, he filed for divorce and went through seven years of legal battles, only to have the case dismissed last month.
Chavoita claimed it was because he was in no condition to continue the battle and plans to file suit again at a later date.
But Lakeisha’s lawyer claims the two are back together and in a “romantic and sexual relationship” living in their new home, which is in their daughter Serena’s name.
There are only two ways Lakeisha can get out of the house sale — and both seem remote, especially since she settled the final amount of the debt with Simon, according to the judge’s order filed Monday.
Lakeisha could file for Chapter 13 again, but that would add more legal and court costs.
She would also have to prove that her situation has changed and can afford to maintain a repayment plan.
Or she could pay Simon in full before the auction.
The four-bedroom property is worth between $1.4 million and $1.6 million, according to realtor websites, but is likely to go for less at auction.
Any remaining money from the sale after legal and real estate agent fees and payment of Simon’s debt will go to Lakeisha’s other creditors.
In Simon’s statement, he revealed that Lakeisha initially approached him for a loan after seeing a “for sale” sign on his $79,000 Volvo semi-tractor.
STOLEN VEHICLES
Simon would only sell the truck to Lakeisha if he had property as collateral, which was in Richard’s name, so Lakeisha transferred the deeds into her name, forging her husband’s signature. She then borrowed other amounts.
Court documents from Lakeisha’s deposition showed that she had already forged Richard’s signature once so she could sell her 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach, worth $45,000, to buy food for herself and her son Dylan.
“Mostly, I was broken by my husband [who] it didn’t help me. It was me and my son who didn’t make any money, so I had to sell it so I could eat and my son could eat… we had nothing,” she said.
Richard’s legal team denied the claim at the time.
His son, Chavoita LeSane, threatened more than a year ago to file an elder abuse lawsuit, which has not yet come to fruition.
He told The US Sun in an exclusive interview: “I don’t remember how long it’s been in the relationship since my dad started having financial headaches, like, ‘What’s going on with my Social Security checks?’
“Lakeisha took the Mercedes, took the bus, took money, what else was it?
“There are so many things she stole or forged documents for him. This is considered elder abuse.
“We’re just putting it all together, it’s a lot. This whole situation has been frustrating.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
