Serena Williams’ dad King Richard will be forced to sell her crumbling childhood home next month to cover stepmom’s debt
SERENA Williams’ stepmom has finally lost the family home to pay off her huge debts – with an auction set for next month, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
The legal battle over Richard and Lakeisha Williams’ marital home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida had dragged on for years.
In the final judgment filed this week, the house will be sold at an online auction on July 18, which will pay off the $436,113 debt she owes to “hard lender” David Simon.
This has all stemmed from faking legendary tennis coach Richard’s signature on the title deeds to transfer the property into her name and taking out a $279,000 loan with Simon, which she blew on a failed trucking business.
Simon has been chasing her through the courts ever since and now, seven years later, there will be closure on the long-running saga.
Lakeisha had managed to stay the original house sale judgment for three years by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, but the last one failed in May, as she could never keep up with the repayment plan.
Former stripper Lakeisha, 45, met Richard, 82, at a tennis tournament back in 2010 and they quickly married, despite his family’s concerns.
She admitted previously to faking his signature in court documents to sell his motorhome.
Richard’s son Chavoita LeSane has alleged in interviews with The U.S. Sun that she’s cashed his social security checks and sold other vehicles behind his back.
Frail Richard is suffering from dementia and has had three strokes.
DIVORCE DISMISSED
When he found out about the title deed swap, he filed for divorce, and went through seven years of legal fighting, only to have the case dismissed last month.
Chavoita claimed that it was because he wasn’t fit to continue the battle and he plans to file again at a later date.
But Lakeisha’s lawyer is adamant that the pair are back together and in a “romantic and sexual relationship” living at his new home, which is in daughter Serena’s name.
There are only two ways for Lakeisha to get out of this house sale – and both look remote, especially as she has agreed the final debt figure with Simon, according to the judge’s order filed on Monday.
Lakeisha could file for Chapter 13 again, but this would add more legal and court costs.
She’d also have to prove that her situation has changed and can afford to keep up with a repayment plan.
Or she could pay Simon back in full before the auction.
The four-bed property is worth between $1.4 million and $1.6 million, according to realtor websites, but it is likely to go for less at auction.
Any remaining monies from the sale after legal and realtor fees and paying off Simon’s debt will go to Lakeisha’s other creditors.
In Simon’s deposition, he revealed Lakeisha approached him initially for a loan after seeing a “for sale” sign on his $79,000 Volvo semi truck 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 by faking her husband’s signature. She then borrowed further amounts.
Court docs from Lakeisha’s deposition showed that she’d forged Richard’s signature once before, so that she could sell his 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach, worth $45,000, to buy food for herself and their son Dylan.
“Mainly, I was broke by my husband [who] did not help me. It was my son and I not getting any money, so I had to sell it so I can eat and my son can eat… we didn’t have anything,” she said.
Richard’s legal team denied the claim at the time.
His son, Chavoita LeSane, has threatened for over a year to file an elder abuse suit, which is yet to materialize.
He told The U.S. Sun in an exclusive interview: “I can’t remember how long it was into the relationship as far as my dad starting to have financial headaches, like, ‘What’s going on with my social security checks?’
“Lakeisha took the Mercedes, she took the bus, she took money, what else was it? The motorcycle.
“There are so many things that she stole or forged documents for him. That’s considered elder abuse.
“We’re just putting all of it together, it’s a lot. This whole situation has been frustrating.”