Evicted! 10 Stars Who Faced Home Foreclosures In Recent Years

May 9, 2013 - 2:34 pm by Chris Yuscavage

When it comes to paying off a mortgage, there's only one rule you need to follow: Don't play with the bank's money. That's as true for you as it is for your favorite celebrity. No matter who you are, what you do, or how much you make, the only thing that a bank cares about when it comes to a mortgage is getting paid. So if you're not prepared to make mortgage payments to a bank—or, worse, you don't make enough money to make mortgage payments to a bank—then you shouldn't apply for one in the first place.

Unfortunately, more than a few celebrities have not heeded that advice. They've attempted to live beyond their means by moving into a big house with a big mortgage. As a result of their financial shortcomings, they've faced foreclosures on their properties. Here, we take a look at 10 who faced home foreclosures in recent years.

The Celebrity: Fantasia When She Faced Foreclosure: April 2013 Why It Happened: For the past five years or so, Fantasia has been facing foreclosure. As far back as 2008, she reportedly defaulted on a $58,000 loan she had taken out in 2007 and was forced to put her $1.3 million North Carolina home on the market for $800,000. But she finally gave up the good fight this year when she agreed to essentially give her home back to the bank that gave her a mortgage in the first place.

The Celebrity: Nas When He Faced Foreclosure: October 2012 Why It Happened: In 2004, Nasty purchased a 3,500-square-foot home in Georgia for $585,000 and took out a mortgage to pay for it. But as of last year, he still owed $507,000 on the property and had fallen way behind on payments. So the bank that he borrowed money from took the home from him and auctioned it off for $348,500.

The Celebrity: Allen Iverson When He Faced Foreclosure: February 2013 Why It Happened: It's no secret that AI has endured his fair share of money problems since his last go-round in the NBA. His biggest one came earlier this year when a bank took back his $4.5 million Atlanta mansion after he defaulted on his $1.2 million mortgage. The bank then put the home up for auction and made $2.5 million on the sale. So they recouped their cash, but AI is still out of a home.

The Celebrity: Toni Braxton When She Faced Foreclosure: November 2012 Why It Happened: The R&B singer has faced a variety of financial issues over the past decade, including one involving her home. In 2004, she took out a $1.5 million loan to purchase a house in Georgia. But between 2004 and 2010, she missed at least 10 monthly payments on the loan, so the bank foreclosed on it. She attempted to avoid foreclosure by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010. But the bank took the home anyway and put it on the market for well below what she paid for it.

The Celebrity: Chris Tucker When He Faced Foreclosure: October 2011 Why It Happened: The Rush Hour star has an awesome pirate-ship basement in his mansion in Central Florida. Er, make that had an awesome pirate-ship basement. After taking out a $6 million loan in 2007 to buy the home, he still owed about $4.5 million on it in 2011. So he was eventually forced to sell the home for just $2 million to pay the bank part of their money back.

The Celebrity: R. Kelly When He Faced Foreclosure: March 2013 Why It Happened: Once upon a time, Kells' Chicago-area mansion was worth $5 million. But about three years ago, he stopped making payments on it and then attempted to sell it to avoid foreclosure. He didn't have any luck, though. So earlier this year, the bank bought his home back for less than $1 million during a foreclosure auction, meaning he lost $4 million because he had his home foreclosed. To make matters worse, he's still on the hook for $5 million that he owes to the IRS. This was a bad deal for him all around.

The Celebrity: Chamillionaire When He Faced Foreclosure: May 2010 Why It Happened: Unlike most of the celebs listed here, the bank didn't come in and forcibly take his home after foreclosing on it. Rather, Cham claims that he let the home go into foreclosure as a business decision that he made. "I was always on the road touring," he said at the time. "I just didn't feel like it was a good business investment to pay that much mortgage for a house I was never at." Hmmm…Sounds like he should have thought about that before he purchased his home.

The Celebrity: T-Boz When She Faced Foreclosure: TBD Why It Happened: The TLC singer is going through a possible foreclosure right now. She apparently owes more than $500,000 on a five-bedroom home in Georgia and paperwork was just filed to start the foreclosure process. So her house is in danger of being foreclosed soon, if she doesn't pay up. Recently, she told Essence that there was a good explanation for the possible foreclosure. "During my last marriage…I had a bunch of things that were put in my name," she said. "If one of those properties is going into foreclosure, then I don't know." She better give her accountant a call ASAP.

The Celebrity: Keith Sweat When He Faced Foreclosure: May 2012 Why It Happened: Sweat defaulted on a $450,000 mortgage that a bank gave him back in 2004 to purchase a home in Detroit. So the bank foreclosed his home. But the drama didn't end there. In addition to taking his house, they also sued Sweat for more than $250,000 a short time later when his home only sold for $200,000 at auction. They want him to pay the remaining $253,000 owed on the original mortgage and have attempted to put a lien on a property he owns in Georgia in order to get it.

The Celebrity: Young Buck When He Faced Foreclosure: May 2012 Why It Happened: The former G-Unit rapper's financial troubles have been public knowledge for years now. They caught up with him last year when he was evicted from his mansion in Tennessee for failing to make payments on it. The proceeds that were made from the sale of the home were then given to the IRS because he owed more than $300,000 in unpaid taxes to them. And it went on and on from there with Buck facing foreclosure on other pieces of property, too, like his luxury cars. Buck's story is sad but, unfortunately, all too common in the world of celebrities.

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