Real Housewife of NJ Teresa Giudice declares bankruptcy, is 11 million in debt

PATERSON, NJ - MAY 03: Telvision personality Teresa Giudice (L) and husband Joe Giudice attend Bravo's 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' season two premiere at The Brownstone on May 3, 2010 in Paterson, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Teresa Guidice, one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, is known for her spending sprees and high end taste. She has four daughters aged 9, 6, 5, and 9 months, for whom she regularly buys designer clothes and throws expensive parties, as seen on the show. She even outfits her baby daughter in tiny leopard print heels. It turns out that Teresa and her husband, Joe, are living way larger than they could ever afford. The couple filed for bankruptcy and they’re a whopping $11 million in debt. The best part of this story are the details about their monthly earnings. They earn less than $80,000 a year in legitimate business dealings, but somehow own multiple properties that are in foreclosure and live in a home worth $1.8 million dollars. I would guess they earn more than $80,000 a year and that seems to be hinted at in the bankruptcy filing, which lists $10,000 a month in support from “family.” I think we know what kind of family that would be.

Free-spending “Real Housewives of New Jersey” diva Teresa Giudice and her husband, Joe, make just $79,000 a year and are up to their tanned necks in liens, foreclosures and unpaid bills, according to bankruptcy papers filed in Newark federal court.

The Giudices say they owe creditors $10,853,648.04.

Teresa, known for her lust for designer clothes and expensive bling on the Bravo show, owes nearly $20,000 on credit cards for Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. In total, the Giudices show $104,000 in debt on at least eight credit cards.

The bank has moved to foreclose on the Giudices’ $1.8 million, 10,500-square-foot, eight-bedroom, 5½-bath marble-and-onyx manse in Towaco, NJ, the couple moved into during the first season.

Teresa and Joe defaulted on their $1,280-a-month payment for the family’s ubiquitous black Cadillac Escalade. They also didn’t have insurance on the massive SUV, according to GMAC.

Teresa — who this season told Joe to get a vasectomy — owes $12,000 to a Garden State fertility clinic.

* Banks have taken the couple’s $279,000 four-bedroom Jersey Shore house. The Giudices had three mortgages on the house and owed $325,000. The couple also handed over a $200,000 home in Lincoln Park, NJ, that had four mortgages — and an outstanding debt of $600,000.

* Teresa and Joe owed another $1 million for property in Clifton, NJ, that has been given back to lenders.
On the show, Teresa famously dresses her four daughters in designer clothes, and last season dropped $2,000 in 10 minutes of shopping.

Yet, in bankruptcy papers, Teresa and Joe claim to spend just $400 a month on clothes.

On a recent “Real Housewives” episode, Teresa boasted that she dropped “a fortune” on daughter Gia’s televised 9th birthday party. The child got an all-terrain vehicle, along with a trip to a spa in a pink stretch limo for her and her friends.
Joe, who “owns several successful businesses throughout New Jersey,” according to his wife’s Bravo bio, owes more than $5 million, including debts to former partners associated with his Section 8 real-estate deals.

In court papers, Joe, who owns a stucco and stone company, lists his monthly income as $3,250; Teresa pulls down $3,333 a month for her Bravo gig. The couple gets another $10,000 in “monthly assistance from family members.”

Behind the bankruptcy filing
What the Giudices make a year:
$79,000 (plus $120,000 in “assistance” from family members)
What they owe: $10,853,648.04
Credit Cards
$104,000
including $20,000 to Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom
$1,280 monthly payment for Cadillac Escalade
Mortgages
$2.6M
for eight mortgages on three homes (two have been handed back to lenders)
$5.8M Joe’s business investments
$85,600 Home repairs
$12,000 Fertility treatments
$2,300 Phone bill

[From NY Post]

Neither Kaiser nor I watch Real Housewives of New Jersey, and while I avoid all versions of this show Kaiser only watches the NY and Atlanta shows. For those of you who watch this, is it surprising? Are we going to see Teresa downsizing on the next season as her houses and cars are seized by creditors?

Teresa has a new cookbook out, called Skinny Italian. Reviews on Amazon note that she makes multiple references to The Sopranos in the text. It looks like she was living that lifestyle at least.

12 May 2010 - Universal City, California - Teresa Giudice. The Cable Show 2010 An Evening with NBC Universal held at Universal Studios Hollywood. Photo Credit: Byron Purvis/AdMedia

40661, NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Monday May 17, 2010. Teresa Giudice of Bravo TV's Real Housewives of New Jersey is seen holding onto her book Skinny Italian after making an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show. Photograph: PacificCoastNews.com

May 12, 2010 - Los Angeles, California, USA - Actress TERESA GIUDICE at the An Evening with NBC Universal held at Universal Studios. © Red Carpet Pictures

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