Serena and Venus Williams lose childhood home as dad Richard sells it for $1.4M to pay off ex-wife's debts
Serena and Venus Williams will soon say goodbye to their childhood home in Florida as father Richard Dove Williams Jr is selling the $1.4million mansion to pay off the debts of the estranged wife, Lakeisha Graham. The house will be sold at an online auction at 10 am on August 25.
According to 'The Sun,' most of the proceeds will go to David Simon, who loaned Lakeisha $255,000 after she allegedly faked Richard's signature to remortgage the property and blew it on fast food and a failed trucking business. David's lawyer has now filed a proposed order, which says that Richard will not be allowed to contest the decision. it said, “Richard Williams has forever waived any and all claims, defenses and appellate rights he had or has relating to directly or indirectly to the above-captioned suit."
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The total debt
The 43-year-old wife Lakeisha twice filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy but failed to convince the courts that she had the required funds to repay around $8,000 a month after falling behind. Now her debts have increased, as Simon proceeded with a new legal bill for $62,555, which runs over 36 pages. This has made the total debt $586,109, which includes the original loan amount, default interest at 18 per cent totaling $182,017, and attorney fees of $125,075, as per the report.
A peek into $1.4M Florida mansion
Richard bought the 4-bedroom, 10-acre spread at 12167 144th Place N in 1995 for $355,000, according to Palm Beach property records, as reported by Miami Herald. The house has two bathrooms and one-half bathroom. Built in 1981, Richard added a tennis court to the residence in 1995, and Serena and Venus spent hours training there. The white pillars outside the front door are discolored and the home is surrounded by overgrown dead crabgrass and shrubbery. 'The Sun' obtained exclusive pictures of the Palm Beach Gardens house where the then-budding tennis legends lived after moving from California to attend the Rick Macci Tennis Academy.
As per the reports, aerial views on Google Maps show two tennis courts in the backyard of the dead-end street.
Richard's relationship with Lakeisha
The couple, who share son Dylan, are not on good terms amid accusations made in court: including his claim that Lakeisha forged his signature to transfer their West Palm Beach property into her name. Lakeisha admitted that she forged his writing. But, in court documents, she said he asked her to do everything for him due to ill health, and the deeds and mortgage were all notarized and witnessed at a loan company, as per the reports by 'The Sun.'