Exclusive
Fantasia Barrino's finally putting her financially turbulent past behind her -- dumping the giant house in North Carolina she nearly lost to foreclosure in 2009 ... but the therapeutic real estate move is costing her nearly $500K.
Fantasia has listed the 5-bedroom, 38,768 sq. ft. mansion in Charlotte for $800,000 -- nearly $500,000 less than what she paid for it in 2007 ... $1.3 million -- and you can bet she won't get her asking price.
As we previously reported, the home isn't without its bad memories -- Fantasia
nearly lost the place at public auction after allegedly defaulting on a $58,000 loan. She managed to save it at the last minute.
So far, no word on whether the house has received any offers.
Let's hope
Fantasia Barrino listed "cash" on her new baby registry, because she might need it -- TMZ has learned she's on the receiving end of a new $25,000 lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, filed last month, the former "
American Idol" champ -- who announced earlier this week she is
expecting baby #2 -- is being sued by a collection company on behalf of U.S. Bank for allegedly owing them money.
The lawsuit doesn't explain why, and neither side would go into details, but the suit is asking for $25,057.02 plus 10% interest per year dating back to May 2009.
Fantasia is no stranger to money troubles -- she nearly
lost her home to foreclosure in January 2009, before making the payments at the last minute.
It's been one month since
Fantasia Barrino attempted
to kill herself with Aspirin and a sleep aid -- but now, the time has come to crack some jokes about it ... at least according to Fantasia.
The former "
American Idol" champ was boarding a plane in NY yesterday when she decided to open up about pills, her love life and, of course ... her new album.
Fantasia Barrino admittedly took a whole bottle of aspirin because she "
wanted it to be over with" -- but in a Las Vegas club Friday night, she made the whole incident seem like something that was done to her ... not something she did to herself.
It's been three weeks since her "
suicide attempt" and Fantasia has gone back to
shooting her reality show and promoting her new album. She performed at Rain nightclub over the weekend where she told the crowd, "They thought I was finished, they thought I was done, they counted me out.
But I will never, ever stop. I don't care what nobody say about me ... Don't let your haters stop you. Don't let nobody stand in the way of your
destiny."
Just a few days ago, Fantasia told VH1 (the network that airs her reality show), "I wanted to go to sleep and just be at peace. I knew exactly what I was
doing. You can't accidentally take a whole bottle of pills."
She knew what she was doing all right.
Fantasia Barrino claims she knew exactly what she was doing when she pounded a bottle of Aspirin and overdosed earlier this month -- she was trying to kill herself.
In an interview with VH1, 26-year-old Fantasia claims she was so depressed about all of the drama surrounding her relationship with a married man ... that, "I didn't have any fight in me. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted out."
Fantasia added, "At that moment, I wanted out. I wanted it to be over with – all of it, all of that [expletive]."
She went on, "I just sat in the closet and looked at the mirror and took all the pills in the bottle. I wanted to go to sleep and just be at peace. I knew exactly what I was doing. You can't accidentally take a whole bottle of pills."
As we previously reported, a friend called 911 soon after the "American Idol" champ popped the pills -- and she was transported to a local hospital ... where she was treated and eventually released.
Antwaun Cook -- the married man who was (and still might be) dating
Fantasia Barrino -- collected a bunch of his belongings from his family home in North Carolina ... and got the hell out.
According to reports, 26-year-old Cook has moved into a nearby apartment.
The move comes just days after Cook was seen canoodling with Fantasia while a camera crew documented the entire encounter ... perhaps for a reality show.
As we previously reported, Fantasia was recently released from the hospital, where she was treated for an overdose. Days before that, Antwaun's wife, Paula Cook, had filed divorce papers .. citing her husband's allegedly "adulterous affair" with Fantasia.
Fantasia Barrino was spotted outside her North Carolina home yesterday -- alongside the married man who she allegedly had an "adulterous affair" with ... but the two weren't alone.
The two reconnected just one day after Fantasia was released from the hospital ... following an aspirin overdose.
But here's the rub -- the emotional rendezvous was all caught on tape by a camera crew that was clearly working with Fantasia and Antwaun Cook ... possibly for her reality show.
We took your questions on everything -- including
, the first photos of
Fantasia since she was hospitalized, the passenger in the alleged
Steven Slater altercation still not being identified, and
Dina Lohan's interview about Lindsay
.
Plus:
Britney Spears would make a great judge on "
American Idol"?!
Fantasia Barrino is preparing for a possible legal war with the scorned wife of her married lover ... because Fantasia's attorney tells us under North Carolina's "archaic" domestic laws, "women can sue women for stealing husbands."
As we previously reported, the "
American Idol" champ had been in a relationship with a man named
Antwaun Cook -- who is still married to
Paula Cook. Paula recently filed for divorce ... and in the legal papers, cited an "adulterous affair" between Fantasia and Antwaun.
Cook has not taken any legal action against Fantasia yet -- but Barrino's lawyer,
Gena Graham Morris, tells us it very well COULD happen ... because in NC there are certain "heartbalm torts ... where a wife can sue a third party for having a relationship with her husband" -- it's called alienation of affection.
Morris adds, "The heartbalm torts arise out of the notion that women were once property that could be stolen like televisions. It is a comical irony that in 2010 women can sue women for stealing husbands."
Morris says she "hopes" Paula Cook will choose not to sue -- but in case she does, Morris vows to "vigorously defend" Fantasia.
