How RHONJ's Jacqueline Laurita Lost Her Money
Correction 2/8/2023: A previous version of this article incorrectly described Chris Laurita as filing for personal bankruptcy. He filed for corporate bankruptcy on behalf of his company.
At the core of "The Real Housewives" franchise is money — lots of money. Yes, it's about women fighting with each other and occasionally getting divorced, but wealth connects them all. You can't be a Housewife unless you can afford to charter a jet — or at least convince the audience you can.
The high standard often becomes a problem for cast members trying hard to keep up with their appearance. The series is littered with examples of Housewives who lived far beyond their means and ended up suffering the consequences. In more recent years, there's also been a trend of women stealing and scamming their way to the level of wealth that lands them a spot on the show. Case-in-point: "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" alum Jen Shah has been ordered to pay more than $9 million in restitution for the telemarketing scheme that gave her the lifestyle that producers first noticed.
Long before Shah, there was Jacqueline Laurita, a one-time Housewife from New Jersey who found herself in severe legal and financial trouble from which she's still trying to recover.
Chris Laurita's company went bankrupt
After three great seasons on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," Jacqueline Laurita's world came crashing down in 2009 when her husband, Chris Laurita filed for corporate bankruptcy. According to court documents, Chris' menswear line, Signature Apparel, wasn't turning a profit. While that may have been bad enough, the court ultimately suspected Chris of falsifying documents and making false claims in order to file, per NJ.com.
The Luaritas reportedly only found themselves in dire financial situations in the first place after they allegedly began draining company funds in order to keep up appearances on "RHONJ." The trustee of the failed company then decided to sue the Lauritas for more than $7 million — which only compounded their problems. The legal battle dragged on for years, and by 2014, their attorneys at Troutman Sanders were sick of it, per Radar. The couple's attorneys dropped them and then took them to court over unpaid fees. "The Lauritas have failed to comply with their agreement and obligations under the Engagement Letter with respect to expenses and fees owed to Troutman Sanders in connection to the Laurita Adversary Proceedings," a court filing read.
While that would all be more than enough for any couple to deal with, things went from bad to worse in 2016 when Jacqueline found herself in yet more financial trouble.
Jacqueline didn't pay her taxes
Just when Jaqueline and Chris Laurita thought things couldn't get any worse for them, they did. After years of battling expensive lawsuits and fraud cases the couple found themselves slapped with yet another problem in 2016 when Jaqueline was found to be $340,000 in debt, according to Radar. This came on top of a nearly $80,000 tax lean against both Jacqueline and Chris.
According to Jacqueline, she never meant to withhold taxes — her life just got out of hand. In a 2016 Bravo blog, the former reality star claimed that a large part of the debt was due to family medical expenses, and a failure to slow down after her husband's company bankruptcy. "After my husband lost his company during that rough economy, it took some time for the decrease in income to catch up to us," she wrote.
As the couple tries tirelessly to fight their way out of a mountain of debt, their current living situation couldn't be further from the lavish, upscale life they tried so hard to depict during their tenure of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." These days they mostly stay out of the limelight, but as recently as 2019, Chris made headlines for trying to make a quick buck by selling off some of their furniture and collectibles on Facebook Marketplace, per Page Six. Among the items Chris was willing to part with were valuable "Godfather" posters, a leather couch, and a crystal chandelier.