SERENA Williams’ stepmom has already lost one home after leaving over $200,000 in debt – now she’s about to lose the tennis ace’s childhood house, which was allegedly stolen from Serena’s dad.
The U.S. Sun can reveal that the current predicament facing former stripper Lakeisha Williams isn’t the first time she’s been in such a financial mess.
Records show, Lakeisha’s being chased through the courts to pay back a loan now totaling over $600,000 after allegedly faking Richard’s signature on the title deeds into her name to grab control of his four-bed house in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
She then took out a loan with “hard lender” David Simon, which she blew on a failed trucking business and “fast food and frivolities,” according to court docs.
Lakeisha has fallen into disastrous debt trouble once before, which cost her a home back in 2009, just a few years before her life changed when she met millionaire and legendary tennis coach Richard, 81, whose life story was turned into the Oscar-winning biopic portrayed by Will Smith “King Richard.”
The ex-Miami dancer, 44, whose stage name was Angel, jointly owned a three-bedroom property in Fort Lauderdale with her so-called auntie, Betty Downing, who now lives with her in the Palm Beach Gardens place.
When the final judgment of foreclosure came through, the pair owed $199,793 in mortgage arrears and interest plus $3,239 in attorney fees, court records show.
Yet, when a court summons was issued for Lakeisha, who then went by the surname Graham, she couldn’t be found.
The property was sold on November 17, 2009, for $85,000 to Tal Equity LLC. Broward County records show that both Lakeisha and Betty had built up debt with various other financial services.
In Lakeisha’s case, between 2006 and 2008, she was sued for running up bills of up to $5,000 with four firms – Cach LLC, Midland Funding LLC, National Credit Acceptance and House Financial Corporation, according to court docs.
Betty, now 59, also had her fair share of money problems, racking up at least three lawsuits with companies chasing unpaid bills.
Now the pair are living in the crumbling ruins of Richard’s once-neat home in Florida, which lender Simon says is uninsurable due to a leaking roof, and pictures first seen by The U.S. Sun show the place to be in a sad state of disrepair.
In court docs, Lakeisha has claimed to now be living off Betty for an income to help repay her debts, but Simon says she’s restarted her trucking business.
It dismally failed the first time around after she bought a truck from Simon, which he was forced to repossess after it was found split in half in Long Island City, 1,200 miles from Lakeisha’s home, causing $30,000 damage – with no sign of Lakeisha.
Now the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee in charge of her case, Robin Weiner, has had enough with her persistent non-payment and filed a motion for the latest bankruptcy to be dismissed due to the “failure to make required payments under the plan.”
Weiner goes on to recommend “it is in the best interest of the creditors and the estate that this petition under Chapter 13 is dismissed.”
This means that the house can be sold at auction to pay off the creditors.
Simon is the only preferential creditor, with his tally now being $610,855, including legal costs and interest.
But a desperate Lakeisha is not completely down and out.
In response, she’s come up with a repayment plan for a third time to keep the property.
This means paying Simon over five years – $8,277 for the first to third months, $11,092 for the next 10 months, $12,260 for three further months, and $$12,147 for the remaining 44 months.
It seems far-fetched considering she’s not paid him a dollar back in years and couldn’t keep up with the previous plan, which consisted of payments of $8,277 for the first three months, $11,092 for the next 13 months, and $10,978 for the final 44 months.
If Lakeisha fails and the house is sold at auction, her legal woes won’t stop there, as Richard and his son, Chavoita Lesane, have vowed to file an elder abuse lawsuit.
When legendary tennis coach Richard found out his signature had been faked on the mortgage docs, he filed for divorce, which is still ongoing.
They claim she’d sold several of his vehicles and cashed his social security checks.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, Chavoita said: “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,” Chavoita added.