More bad news for the Girardis.
According to records obtained by the NY Post, the mansion that Thomas Girardi and estranged wife Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne shared throughout their marriage has officially gone into foreclosure this month and has been seized by banks.
Due to Thomas having little to no assets left to give up and failure to pay taxes on the home against the lien placed upon him, the home was initially seized at the end of 2020.
“The levying officer may be required to take custody of property in your possession or under your control,” the lien says. “You have a duty to release tangible personal property to the levying officer,” The NY Post reported.
The estate was originally purchased in 1980 for $1.3 million, and after indictments were handed down to Thomas’s disgraced law firm, Girardi and Keese, and Erika subsequently filed for divorce, the estate was put back on the market for a listing of $13 million.
However, the estate has not been able to sell and has seen a total of five different price slashes.
The latest price slash cut down the listing by $220,000, and it now stands at $8.2 million.
There is some good news for Erika, however, as she is not listed as an owner of the property and thereby not held liable.
Prompting all of this to go into motion is the lawsuit filed against Girardi charging him with running his firm like a Ponzi scheme. In total, he owes $517 million in damages owed to clients, including plan crash and burn victims as well as orphans, in settlement funds they allegedly have never seen a dime of.
Since the lawsuit motions have been filed, neither Erika nor Thomas has been living at the estate.
Thomas has been residing in an assisted living facility battling onset dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Erika has been living in an L.A. rental property.
Erika has consistently denied knowing any of her estranged husband’s shady dealings and has refused to offer up a penny or any information regarding the lawsuit — besides a pair of expensive diamond rings that Thomas allegedly purchased for her with embezzled funds. (They are being held by a third party, but Erika has demanded she wants them returned.)
The Mediterranean-style Girardi estate boasts “old-world opulence,” floor-to-ceiling windows, a massive fireplace, four bedrooms, and nine bathrooms, and it sits on two acres of land. It also boasts its own chapel, and a walking path encircles the entire property, connecting the rose garden, grass lawns, wisteria-covered pergolas, and multiple patios and seating areas.
Ted Clark and Heather Lillard, who hold the listing with Compass, did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
I’m sure we’ll see the beginnings of all this on the recently wrapped season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which is set to air on Bravo sometime this spring.
