Whitney Houston Owes

By: Shannon Gossage

It has been reported that if Houston cannot come up with the money to play the back payments by January 4, the house will be auctioned off. Nancy Seltzer, Houston’s publicist, has denied the rumors saying the house is not in foreclosure. An attorney for the company holding the mortgage, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, has stated she thinks the money will come from a sale of the house rather than a foreclosure. The attorney, Gayl Spivak, said; "There are people interested."

Houston bought the estate, which encompasses two adjoining lots, nine years ago for $2.7 million. Now one of the properties is estimated at $889,300 and the other is assessed at $5.6 million. It was reported that Houston took out a $975,000 loan from Chevy Chase Bank on the property, but it was not revealed how long ago that was. The bank sued the singer on June 12 for back payments. She was ordered to pay upwards of $189,000 to an unnamed bank on a $200,000 second mortgage she took out on the property. Houston also owns properties in Los Angeles and Georgia.

Houston recently filed for divorce from her husband of 14 years, singer Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown seemed an unlikely couple when they wed in July 1992. Houston was the reigning queen of R&B and thought to be a positive role model. Brown was a troublemaker with a shady past. Houston and Brown’s marriage has been riddled with rumors of physical abuse, drug use, and infidelity. Houston, 43, has reportedly been battling a drug addiction for the past decade or so and has remained pretty much out of the spotlight. Recently it was reported that she got her act together and kicked Brown and her drug addiction to the curb. She is reportedly working on her "comeback" album and recently said, "I feel great!" Hopefully she is getting her life back on track for the sake of her 13-year old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.