American Idol’s Season 3 winner, Fantasia Barrino, is hitting the talk-show circuit to promote her new album and set the record straight on her much-publicized financial drama. The 25-year-old singer owed $65,000 that she borrowed in 2006 to pay back taxes she owed the IRS and as a result, was at risk of losing her home.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Fantasia spilled all.
“The house problem wasn’t a foreclosure, and it wasn’t that I didn’t have the money. I’m not the richest, but I’ve always been a hard worker … and I thank God I’m still able to make ends meet. It could have been a lot better for me though if I would have had better management and better accountants…They ended up not paying my taxes and I had to clean up all that stuff. I had to hustle and bustle and make sure that was taken care of.”
Fantasia also told Oprah Winfrey that the situation was “very embarrassing” and confirmed that it was an auction on her home, not a foreclosure, that was threatening ownership of Fantasia’s Charlotte, NC home.
An attorney for the Broward Energy Partners lending company said in a statement that the auction was called off because an agreement has been reached between both parties. If the agreement between the two parties had not been reached, the singer’s home would have been sold at auction on Monday, Jan. 12.
Zillow’s Zestimate for the home is $1.16 million and it is located in the Rain Tree neighborhood of Charlotte where the Zillow Home Value Index is $263,300, down 8.8% from the previous year. In Rain Tree, 0.09% of all homes were foreclosed upon in November 2009.
Barrino is looking to reclaim her superstar status with a new VH1 reality series “Fantasia For Real“.
See other celebrity foreclosures.