Fantasia's Real-Life Housing Crisis

Charlotte house will be auctioned off next month for collateral if singer doesn't repay the rest of a 2006 loan

By Natalie Finn Dec 09, 2008 11:54 PMTags
Fantasia BarrinoAP Photo/ Chris Pizzello

The latest chapter of Fantasia Barrino's life story isn't so inspiring.

One of the American Idol winner's North Carolina homes has been put up for auction after Barrino failed to pay back a nearly $70,000 tax loan, according to court documents filed by the Florida-based company that provided the money.

The house is not being lost to foreclosure; rather, the lender is trying to recoup the debt any way it can.

Barrino, who's currently working on her third studio album, paid back $10,000 of a $68,000 loan she received from Broward Energy Partners to pay taxes in 2006, but was sued in January for the full amount. A judge ruled in October that Broward could go after the money, plus 8 percent interest and court costs, to the tune of $65,541.

So, Barrino's five-bedroom, $1.1 million home—the larger of two properties the "I Believe" diva owns in Charlotte—is scheduled to be auctioned off by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 12, collateral damage that Broward would rather not collect.

A rep for the singer's label, J Records, had no comment, and a sheriff's office spokesman says her people have not been in touch since the auction date was set.