SERENA Williams’ dad and family are “battening down the hatches” as her crumbling childhood home could be affected by Hurricane Milton, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
The star’s father, known as “King Richard,” and his wife Lakeisa Williams fought for years over the house in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Richard Williams is seen at the Sony Open Tennis tournament in 2014 in Key Biscayne, Florida[/caption]
Serena Williams attends The Prelude to The Paris Games 2024 in July[/caption]
This dilapidated pad was at the center of a years-long legal battle involving Lakeisha and Richard Williams[/caption]
After reconciling and calling off their divorce earlier this year, they ended up selling the home to a man linked to Lakesiha as they wanted to “keep it in the family.”
But the home needs extensive work and could end up destroyed if it’s in the path of the Category Four hurricane heading to the Sunshine State this week.
Richard, 82, and Lakeisha, 45, are now said to be living together at a four-bedroom property just minutes away.
According to documents seen by The U.S. Sun, the one-story home is listed in Serena’s name and was bought for $815,000 in June 2015.
Richard’s son, Chavoita LeSane, said the entire family is preparing for the hurricane to make sure their houses are not badly affected by the storm.
He said, “We’re battening everything down. We are okay. We are close, he [Richard] is okay, just spoke with him. We are prepared.”
Serena herself also lives in a mansion in Palm Beach with her husband Alexis Ohanian and their two young children.
All of South Florida, including Palm Beach County, is currently under a tropical storm warning, even though the hurricane may not directly pass through the area.
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According to the Palm Beach Post, sustained winds in the county could reach up to 40 mph with gusts to 60 mph.
The Mayor’s Office for the City of West Palm Beach said on Tuesday it is taking measures to ensure storm and water management systems are ready for possibly heavy rains.
They said, “At this time, we are not expecting hurricane conditions within the City of West Palm Beach areas; however, residents should prepare for significant rainfall and potentially tropical storm winds later this week. Impacts could include a major rain event of up to 10 inches that will result in localized flooding.”
Palm Beach County leaders later issued evacuation orders Tuesday for residents in some areas and five general population shelters have been opened.
According to reports, residents need to evacuate if they live in a manufactured home, a home of substandard construction, or a home prone to severe flooding.
The old home Richard once owned is thought to be empty and in terrible condition, although some of the roof has been fixed, according to his son.
Lakeisha admitted to forging Richard’s signature and had the property transferred to her before taking out a loan with a lender, David Simon, according to court documents.
She was unable to pay back the loan which almost saw the house auctioned off in a messy legal battle over around $436,000 she owed to Simon.
The house was saved from foreclosure at the last minute by a mystery purchaser, who bought the property for $1.2 million just days before a court-ordered auction.
This meant that Lakeisha’s debt was paid off – and she is even believed to have made nearly $500,000 profit from the sale.
Richard and Lakeisha’s house timeline
The U.S. Sun
Richard Williams lost control of his marital home many years ago and was fighting his estranged wife Lakeisha in court until last month. Remarkably, the couple is now back together and the house has sold. Here’s a full rundown of the house drama.
May 2017
- Richard claimed in his initial divorce petition in 2017 that Lekeisha had forged his name on a deed transfer for their home and stole his Social Security checks.
March 2020
- Court documents revealed excerpts from Lakeisha’s testimony, in which she admits to forging her ex’s signature, but alleged she did so as he had left her and their son to starve, which his legal team denied at the time.
February 2022
- Lakeisha told a judge that her stepdaughter Serena wanted to lock her out of the family home. She claimed a letter from the tennis star’s lawyers “threatened to change the locks” if she did not vacate the property. Her legal team at the time did not respond to requests for comment.
June 2022
- Richard filed a $1 million lawsuit against Lakeisha, despite her claiming in court documents they had reconciled and had been sleeping together again, which he later denied. It was later thrown out.
July 2022
- Their home was valued at $1.45 million and was due to be auctioned off, but Lakeisha filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and stalled the sale. The bankruptcy case was dismissed on July 5 but she filed to have it reinstated claiming she had found money for a repayment plan. She was in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt after taking out a huge loan from a hard lender and failing to pay it back.
August 2023
- It was revealed Lakeisha was struggling to keep up with her repayment plan as she battled to keep the house, where she was said to be living despite it needing extensive repair work.
April 2024
- Lakeisha tried for months to stave off the house being sold at auction by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, but each attempt failed.
July 2024
- Richard’s son Chavoita confirms he is no longer pursuing a divorce and the pair are “happy” after reconciling. He insisted the house was safe and she had mysteriously managed to pay off her huge debts.
August 2024
- Documents show the house sold for $1.2 million to a mystery company set up in June last year called Hardy Firm LLC. It is thought the owner has links to Lakeisha Williams and they have managed to keep the home in the family.
According to public records, the buyer is a company set up in June last year called Hardy Firm LLC.
The only named agent or director listed for the company is a man named Darrious Christian of Fort Lauderdale, who is linked to Lakeisha.
It is not known what will happen to the house now, but Chavoita previously said it was in good hands and they didn’t want to sell it to anybody else.
Florida is now braced for what is being described as “the worst storm in a century” with winds up to 150mph winds already hitting Mexico.
The hurricane is allegedly set to double in size before hitting the state on Wednesday night.
President Joe Biden said, “This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century, and God willing, it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now.”
He has delivered a stark warning to residents who sit in the path of Milton to evacuate immediately as he labelled the choice “a matter of life and death.”
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) also warned of the damning predictions today, saying: “Milton is still a relatively compact hurricane, but the wind field is expected to continue to grow in size as it approaches Florida.
“The official forecast shows the hurricane and tropical storm-force winds roughly doubling in size by the time it makes landfall.”
The NHC added Milton will be “an extremely dangerous hurricane when it reaches shore.”
The storm was downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane by Tuesday morning but is still expected to make landfall on Florida‘s Gulf Coast tomorrow evening.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm was likely to hit near the Tampa Bay metropolitan area, although surrounding areas will be affected.
Six million people have been put under hurricane-watch warning along with the million already told to flee.
Serena Williams’ dad Richard is said to be relieved the house drama is now over even though he lost control of the property[/caption]
Serena Williams’ stepmom Lakeisha showed off her glam lifestyle on Instagram which left her $600,000 in debt at one point[/caption]
