“American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino is again finding that, like the title of her autobiography, life is not a fairy tale.
Court documents obtained Tuesday show one of Barrino’s houses in Charlotte is up for auction by a company that said Barrino failed to repay money it loaned her to cover her taxes in 2006.
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The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled to sell the home, valued at $1.1 million, in January. The home isn’t in foreclosure, but rather is being used to compensate the company that loaned Barrino money to cover taxes.
Barrino, whose autobiography is titled “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” has rapidly ascended to stardom after winning the third season of “American Idol” in 2004.
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A single mother and high school dropout from High Point, located in central North Carolina, Barrino has released two albums and debuted on Broadway playing the lead role of Celie in the musical version of “The Color Purple.”
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She also is nominated for a Grammy for “I’m His Only Woman,” a song she performs with fellow “American Idol” alumna and Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson.
Even if January’s sale proceeds, Barrino still has a house in Charlotte. The soul singer has a $529,000 home a couple miles from the one scheduled for sale in south Charlotte.
An attorney for the company and a partner named in the lawsuit did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday. Fantasia’s record label, J Records, had no comment.
Court documents show that Florida-based Broward Energy Partners agreed to pay more than $68,000 of Barrino’s taxes in October 2006. The company said Barrino eventually repaid $10,000 of the loan. The company later sued for full compensation, but Barrino failed to appear in court to defend the lawsuit.
A judge agreed in October to allow Broward Energy Partners to recover the money from Barrino, plus 8 percent interest and court costs. That was an estimated $65,541 in September, according to the court documents.
Sgt. J.W. England, supervisor of civil judgments with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that deputies tried to contact Barrino by both mail and in person. He said it’s up to the plaintiff to decide which property to choose as leverage for payment.
“Her people never got in contact with us,” England said. “We could have gone in another direction if she would have communicated with us. I hope it doesn’t go to that extreme. We’re hoping she’ll pay this thing and we’ll be out of the picture.”
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