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Entertainment April 14, 2017
Super rich man David Siegel is going after a woman he claims owes months of back-rent in what amounts to a very strange legal case.
“Queen of Versailles” Star David Siegel is no stranger to money troubles. Just a couple years ago he was on the brink of financial ruin, nearly losing his $100 million mansion in Florida — a situation which became the focus of the famous 2012 documentary “Queen of Versailles”.
Siegel, who is the owner of a timeshare company called Westgate Resorts, has since bounced back but has forgotten what it’s like to need a little help.
Case in point: He is now suing a tenant of his, Tracey Wheelock, for eviction in Florida court, claiming she didn’t pay rent for three months. The amount she owes: A whopping $4,500.
Yes, the 81-year-old worth $940 million — who is STILL building that $100-million-mansion modeled after Versailles — is after less than the price of a Louis Vuitton bag, which we’re sure his wife Jackie Siegel has plenty of.
Obviously you don’t become a near-billionaire by letting people take advantage of you financially, but this case just seems a little … weird.
For one, in court docs Siegel claims his rental agreement with Wheelock was verbal. “Defendant has possession of the property under an oral month to month agreement to pay rent,” state the court docs. I don’t know about you but no one has ever allowed me to rent month-to-month under a “I promise to pay you” contract.
Specifically, Siegel claims Wheelock owes him 3 months of back-rent at a rate of $1,500 per month.
And then there’s this. According to real-estate records, Siegel purchased the property from Wheelock back in 2014 for $272,000. So it would appear the duo set up some kind of deal in which she agreed to pay rent to continue living in the pad. (According to various real-estate websites the house is now worth between $345,000 and $425,000 and would carry an average rent of about $2,300 to $2,400 per month, which is way less than Siegal was charging).
According to Wheelock’s officially filed court response she claims she already vacated the residence but did not confirm or deny any back-rent owed.
The case, however, is ongoing which means Siegel is still after the money and possibly damages related to breach of contract.
It’s interesting because not only is it random, it raises so many questions. Why would Siegel buy the house and rent it back for so cheap? Did the two know each other? Why was there no formal rental agreement? Why is he still going after $4,500 in back-rent if Wheelock is already gone? Why does a multi-millionaire care so much about collecting money he doesn’t need? It all seems a little extreme.
After all, Siegel himself experienced dire financial troubles back in 2008 when the stock market crashed — which was heavily depicted in the documentary about his mega-mansion.
A mansion which, by the way, is one of the largest single-family homes in America. It will feature 11 kitchens, 14 bedrooms, 32 bathrooms, a 30-car garage, three indoor pools, two outdoor pools, video arcade, bathroom, two-story movie theater with balcony, fitness center with 10,000 sq. ft. spa, yoga studios, wine cellar that holds 20,000 bottles, two tennis courts, a baseball field and even an elevator in the master bedroom closet.
Which kind of makes the 3-bedroom Florida track home he’s suing over seem like small potatoes, no?
On the other hand, maybe he got rich by counting every single penny and this is merely a classic rich-man move.
That said, here’s a clip of him on “Wife Swap” because … well just watch it.
