GABBY’S MOM BANKRUPT

[mystery-ak]

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/08/06/080612-news-olympics-gabby-1-2/


GABBY’S MOM BANKRUPT
She battles debt as gymnast soars to stardom and massive wealth
By M.L. Nestel Monday, August 6, 2012



Just days after Gabby Douglas soared into the hearts of the world by winning gymnastics gold for Team U.S.A. at the Olympics, it’s been revealed that her hardworking single mom is bankrupt.

But Douglas — the 4-foot-11, 16-year-old Virginia Beach phenom known as “The Flying Squirrel” — is expected to rake in seven figures through endorsements in the coming months, meaning she can give her mother Natalie Hawkins, 42, an early retirement.

“The way their relationship is, I’m sure that Gabby would like to see her mother sit back, relax and kick back,” Gabby’s grand-uncle, Erskine Hawkins, 64, told The Daily in a phone interview from his Gary, Ind., home.

“Her mother has been struggling to do all she could for her children and now that Gabby made it big, it’s time for her mother to enjoy some of it.”

In February, Natalie Hawkins filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The filing claims she is $80,000 in arrears, mostly from a mortgage and a student loan.

It lists her as having assets totaling $163,706, with a townhouse in Virginia Beach and a 2007 Nissan Maxima accounting for the bulk of it.

Hawkins said the bankruptcy filing allowed her “to still be able to live and reorganize my debt in such a way that I could still pay what I owed.”

Since the filing, Hawkins has been making $408 monthly payments.

“It’s my story, it’s part of me. I’m not even embarrassed about it,” Hawkins said yesterday in London. “It shows that even though I didn’t like to have to do it, I’m glad there was something there for me to be able to protect my home.”

The mother of four took a second job to help increase her bank teller’s salary, and now pulls in roughly $2,500 a month, which includes Social Security and child support. Hawkins has been separated from Gabby’s father, Timothy Douglas, who is deployed in Afghanistan with the Air National Guard.

Their daughter’s agent has already fielded hundreds of emails from businesses, talk shows and magazines interested in Douglas, and her image is slated to appear on a Corn Flakes box.

The golden gymnast is estimated to become worth $2 million to $3 million over the next two years, according to a recent Forbes magazine profile.

“As a family, we all tried to contribute,” said Erskine Hawkins, who sent money to help the single mom get by. “Without family, where can you go?“

He added, “She hung tough and she did the best she could raising her kids as a single mother. Somehow she had enough to keep that girl going.”

[R4 Trump]

What a nice story! Her mom works to support her family and doesn't expect the Gov't to do it for her! How refreshing!

[truth_seeker]

Single mother of 4 "retiring" seems like the current expectation for the entitlement generations.

Already getting Social Security for what?

[TheMom]

Already getting Social Security for what?

I asked the same question.

[sinkspur]

She filed bankruptcy over $80 grand, with twice that in assets?

Something's wrong with this picture.

[jmyrlefuller]

She filed bankruptcy over $80 grand, with twice that in assets?

Something's wrong with this picture.

It WAS chapter 13, so some of those assets were probably non-liquid (e.g. the house). Chapter 13 is when you arrange with your creditors to pay off the debt in an installment plan through wage garnishments and the like. In that case, the government recognizes your ability to pay and doesn't write off any of the debt.

[Oceander]

It WAS chapter 13, so some of those assets were probably non-liquid (e.g. the house). Chapter 13 is when you arrange with your creditors to pay off the debt in an installment plan through wage garnishments and the like. In that case, the government recognizes your ability to pay and doesn't write off any of the debt.

Actually, in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debtor agrees to pay on the debts out of so-called "disposable income", generally for a period of 3 to 5 years, and if any of the debts remain unpaid after that period they are discharged.

The statements in the original article about the debts is not as clear as it could be.  As per the article, she is "$80,000 in arrears" - which means that the amount of her unpaid bills alone is $80,000, not that her total debts are $80,000.  Most of her actual debt - as opposed to the arrearages she owes - is most likely composed of the mortgage on her house and her student loans.  Although it's impossible to know what her actual debt/asset ratio is from the article's description, when the mortgage and the student loans are added together, her debts most likely exceed her assets.

[mountaineer]

Gabby Douglas' father nailed earlier this year for kid neglect: report
By ANDY SOLTIS
August 9, 2012

Olympic sweetheart Gabby Douglas’ troubled family life had another secret — her deadbeat dad was arrested earlier this year for contributing to the delinquency of a child.

Timothy Douglas was busted on March 8, days before Gabby starred at the AT& T American Cup competition at Madison Square Garden, according to Britain’s Daily Mail.

He pleaded no contest when he appeared in a Virginia courtroom on May 9, the newspaper’s Web site said.

The Virginia Beach Police Department had issued a warrant for him on March 6. “An officer was investigating a case dealing with a family incident of nonviolent child abuse,” a department spokesman told the newspaper.

The warrant — for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” and rendering “a child under the age of 18 abused or neglected” — was issued after the alleged male victim and caseworkers with the local child-protective-services agency were questioned.

The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

The documents in the case are sealed in Juvenile Court and the identity of the victim is unknown.

It’s not even clear whether Gabby was aware of the incident, which occurred while her father was living apart from his estranged wife, Natalie Hawkins.

Timothy Douglas, an Air Force sergeant who served in Afghanistan, is in London for the Olympics but has not been able to watch his daughter’s stunning performances because she did not get him or her grandparents tickets, a source told the newspaper.

In contrast, Gabby’s mother has been a familiar sight at the Olympics, cheering on her daughter to two gold medals.

Gabby went public about her father after her Olympic triumphs, slamming him as a deadbeat responsible for her mother’s financial woes.

Timothy Douglas abandoned the family years ago. He left Hawkins to struggle to support Gabby and three older siblings.

“It was really hard for us growing up — my dad had left us, so he wasn’t really in the picture anymore,” said Gabby, 16.

“So my mom had to front all these bills. My dad didn’t really pay the child support. He was short [on money]. It was definitely hard on her part, and she had to take care of me and the rest of my siblings.’’

NY Post