A house once owned by Richard Williams, the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena, and alleged to have been fraudulently obtained by his former wife may be legally taken from her.
According to The Sun, Lakeisha Williams, who was married
to Richard from 2009 until 2017, will find out from a Florida judge on April 22.Lakeisha Williams fell behind on a pre-arranged agreement to make payments for the $1.4 million four-bedroom mansion in Palm Beach. She currently owes over $600,000 to “hard lender” David Simon after allegedly receiving a $255,000 loan.
Radar Online reports she twice filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy to thwart the sale of the home in 2022. Both attempts were dismissed because she couldn’t keep up with the repayment arrangements.
Judge Mindy Mora warned Lakeisha that she was in danger of losing the house if she deviated from the financial arrangement.
“If the Modified Plan does not provide for payments to a secured creditor, such creditor is granted in rem stay relief to pursue available state court remedies against any property of the debtor which secures the creditor’s claim,” Mora’s order read.
The bankruptcy trustee has filed a motion to dismiss the case for non-compliance. Judge Mora will make a decision on April 22.
Lakeisha Williams lawyer, Elias Dsouza, wants to submit a new arrangement. She is suggesting a new five-year repayment plan starting with $8,241 for 25 months, $14,308 for the next four months, then $14,088 for the remaining 31 months.
She is currently behind $36,409 on top of the monthly repayments.
The Sun reported that Lakeisha Williams was accused of forging Richard’s signature on the mortgage deeds so she could receive a $255,000 loan from Simon. Court papers revealed that she wasted hundreds of thousands on a failed trucking business.
Simon has accused Lakeisha Williams spending all her income on “fast food and frivolities” but not paying anything toward what she owes him. He added that the house is in such disarray that it is uninsurable.