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Serena Williams’ ex-stripper stepmom to finally lose star’s crumbling childhood home after failing $600k bankruptcy bid
It's the same property she allegedly "stole" from Serena's dad King Richard
SERENA Williams’ stepmom has failed in her bankruptcy bid to get out of a $600k money hole - which means the Williams' childhood home is set to be sold to pay it all off.
The outcome is all the more astonishing as former stripper Lakeisha Williams has, for seven years, managed to avoid selling the $1.4 million mansion to recover her mountain of debt.
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It’s the same property Lakeisha is accused of stealing from the tennis ace’s father, Richard Williams, after admitting in court docs that she faked his signature on the title deeds to put the house in her name - and then take out a $279,000 loan.
Lakeisha blew the lot on a failed trucking business and “fast food and frivolities”, says paperwork - but has staved off foreclosure on the luxury pad by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, all of which have now failed.
She’s consistently messed up the $10,000-a-month repayment plan owed to “hard lender” David Simon - with that debt reaching $620,000 at one stage, including attorney fees and interest.
Now judge Mindy Mora has granted the bankruptcy trustee’s motion for her third bankruptcy bid to be dismissed without prejudice, according to court documents.
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Lakeisha will lose court protection - which stopped the property in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, from being foreclosed - with Simon gaining most of the monies from the sale - the rest will be split by over 20 other creditors.
There’s currently nothing to stop her from immediately filing for Chapter 13 again, but this would add on 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.
If Lakeisha refiles, her automatic stay - protection from creditors - will only last 30 days.
Most read in The US Sun
Meanwhile, tennis coach Richard, 81, who has suffered two strokes and has dementia, filed for divorce in 2017 after realizing that his house had been “stolen.”
Seven years on and the divorce is still dragging through the courts.
Richard initially bought the Palm Beach home for $355,000 with ex-wife Oracene in 1995.
In lender Simon's deposition to courts, he revealed Lakeisha approached him initially for a loan after seeing a “for sale" sign on his $79,000 Volvo semi truck tractor.
According to court documents, Simon would only sell the truck to Lakeisha if she had property as collateral, which was in Richard's name so Lakeisha allegedly transferred the deeds into her name by faking her husband's signature.
The truck was repossessed by Simon in June 2018 after it split in half in Long Island City, 1,200 miles from their home, causing $30,000 damage.
MARRIAGE REVELATIONS
The case, which has been ongoing since April 2017, revealed jaw-dropping allegations about Lakeisha and Richard’s tumultuous marriage.
Court docs from Lakeisha’s deposition showed that she'd forged Williams' 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, now eight.
"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.
‘King Richard’ Williams gives major health update after secret 'brain surgery' amid divorce with crumbling home fight
She claimed to have no inkling that Williams wanted a divorce, saying they were living together as a married couple until May 2017 when he suddenly served her “dissolution papers".
She reveals that on the day he filed the divorce petition, he even gave her a kiss and prayed with her in the morning.
"He just came and gave me a kiss actually that morning, the morning of [the divorce filing] and he ... would share with me to pray, you know, to always pray for our family and then he left with Chavoita,” she said in her deposition.
'ELDER ABUSE' CLAIM
Richard’s son Chavoita Lesane has previously accused Lakeisha of stealing his vehicles, social security checks, and forging documents.
He also threatened to file an elder abuse suit against her, 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?'
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Chavoita said: "We're just putting all of it together, it's a lot. This whole situation has been frustrating.”
The U.S. Sun reached out to Lakeisha's lawyer for comment.
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