Toni Braxton’s Georgia home will go into foreclosure

We previously wrote about singer Toni Braxton’s struggle to keep her Duluth, Georgia home despite deep debt and her filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Recently, a bankruptcy judge denied that request and ordered that Braxton’s mortgage lender be allowed to begin foreclosure proceedings on the million-dollar home.

Braxton bought the home in 2004, taking out a $1.5 million dollar mortgage from Wells Fargo Bank to fund the purchase. According to bankruptcy court documents, the singer still owes the full mortgage amount on the home. Meanwhile, the property has been appraised at a significantly lower $1.2 million. However, Braxton has continued to express her intention and desire to maintain ownership of the home, which is part of Duluth’s Sugarloaf Country Club community.

But when Braxton filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, her assets were placed in control of David Gill, a bankruptcy trustee. Gill’s role in the bankruptcy proceedings was to liquidate Braxton’s assets in an effort to repay some of her debt. Recently, Gill announced that he intended to abandon the property, and asked United States bankruptcy Judge Barry Russell for permission to lift the shield protecting Braxton’s home from foreclosure.

Judge Russell agreed and ruled that U.S. Bank, which gained control of the mortgage when Wells Fargo transferred its interest in the debt to a trust soon after the mortgage was given. The judge stated that his opinion was largely based on the fact that Braxton did not have any equity in the property, and that she owed more on the mortgage than the home was worth.

Source: Wall Street Journal, “Judge Allows Foreclosure of Toni Braxton Home“, Jacqueline Palank, 24 January 2011