Another Star in Bankruptcy Trouble - Janice Dickinson Sued by Creditors!

We wrote before about Teresa Giudice and her husband and how they’re embroiled in accusations of bankruptcy fraud. The two stand accused of hiding assets and income while simultaneously asking the courts to help them dodge their debts. And now another celeb may be the next face of bankruptcy fraud accusations – supermodel Janice Dickinson. The low-level celeb would like to be best known for her former modeling career or stint as a judge on America’s Next Top Model, but in fact she’s much more widely known for her antics on Celebrity Rehab.

Although she’s known to enjoy publicity, these may not be headlines Dickinson will appreciate. The 58 year old former model owes close to $1 million in debts and has claimed in her filing that she has $5,000 in clothing and $1,000 in jewelry as assets. Dickinson owns several business ventures but says they’re not profitable. And – here’s the kicker – a large amount of her debts are to providers who gave the former Vogue cover girl plastic surgery and Botox treatments. We’ve also written before about how creditors sometimes fight back when it comes to bankruptcy and that’s what Dickinson is facing in her case. It’s her bank that’s pushing back because she’s asking to be forgiven of $300,000 in checking account overdrafts. 

Here’s a quick time line of Dickinson’s recent actions and bankruptcy drama:

2008 – Dickinson uses $275,000 of overdraft protection but doesn’t repay it to City National Bank

2009 – The bank goes to court over the non-payment and gets a judgment for $304,000

2009 – Federal tax lien filed against Dickinson in California for $33,500

2009-2012 Debts continue to pile up including tax liens that soar to $500,000

2012 – Dickinson gets engaged to her boyfriend of a few months with a big diamond ring

2013 – Dickinson files for bankruptcy

2013 – Dickinson moves into a multi-million dollar home in the Hollywood hills with her wealthy doctor fiancé

2013 – Dickinson says she’s planning a huge wedding that will be over the top (and expensive)

2013 – City National Bank sues to stop her from ditching the debt to them in her bankruptcy

This may seem excessive and larger than normal life (much like Dickinson herself) but some bankruptcy filers are just like this (albeit on a smaller scale). They run up their credit cards, they don’t pay their taxes, they have a substance abuse problem (Dickinson admits she’s still struggling with recovery) and their finances fall apart because of a combination of irresponsible spending, trouble finding work (Dickinson never seems to be able to stick with any job for too long) and bad financial decision making all around.

For Dickinson, the good news is that despite her wealth fiancée, her money problems are her own and she may be very likely to be able to unload the bank and plastic surgery debts in bankruptcy. The IRS is another matter. That will depend on whether she filed her tax returns on time and truly has no means of her own to pay them.

For the rest of America, you should be reassured knowing that Dickinson is an atypical filer – and even those who resemble her on a smaller scale are not common. Most bankruptcy filers have lost jobs, suffered a medical event or other big life catastrophe that has floored them temporarily. Most bankruptcy filers are not ones who intentionally dig themselves deeper on a daily basis. Most bankruptcy filers do not have substance abuse or other addictive issues that caused their financial decline and could well lead to more of the same after a bankruptcy discharge.

No matter why you’re considering bankruptcy, if you live in North Carolina – Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill or anywhere else – contact the law offices of John T Orcutt for a free consultation and advice on your debt dilemma to see how we can help.