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Thursday, 16 November 2006

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Whitney Houston's home on the block

Singer's new Jersey estate to be auctioned to pay for tax bill

Whitney Houston's $6 million New Jersey estate is slated to be put on a sheriff's auction block Jan. 4 because of more than $1 million owed in back taxes and other charges, according to published reports.

The sale was scheduled Tuesday by the Morris County Sheriff's Office, the Daily Record of Parsippany newspaper reported. The service agent for Chevy Chase Bank, the mortgage holder, sued the soon-to-be-divorced singer, 43, in June. Neither the mortgage nor the taxes have been paid this year, according to county tax records.

Houston's estate encompasses two lots, with the lot for sale assessed at $889,300. The adjacent property is valued at more than $5.6million, reports the Daily Record. Houston purchased the properties nine years ago for $2.7 million.

To pay off the mortgage, Houston was to shell out $4,711.18 per month from June 2004 until May 2034, for a total of about $1.7 million, the paper reports. If the past-due payments are made, the sale could be called off, says Gayl Spivak, an attorney representing Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems.

Houston also has homes in California and Georgia.

Through a secretary, Houston's publicist, Nancy Seltzer, told the Daily Record that the property was not in foreclosure. There has been no further comment.

Last month, Houston filed for divorce from her husband of 14 year, Bobby Brown, in Southern California's Orange County Superior Court.

In her first high-profile public appearance since the marital split , Houston was the belle of the ball Oct. 29 at a stellar Beverly Hills benefit for juvenile diabetes research. Said Houston, basking in the attention: "I feel great."