The Real Housewives of New Jersey Financial Woes Revealed

If there’s one thing we have all grown accustomed to when it comes to Bravo housewives, it is their penchant fondness for the good life and excessive, borderline obnoxious, bragging of their “lavish lifestyles.”

Not exempt are the Real Housewives of New Jersey, and thanks to the good folks at Jezebel.com, the financial history of each of the ladies has now been uncovered.

For example, did you know three civil suits were filed against Danielle Staub and her ex-husband Thomas Staub, including federal and state tax liens? Yeah, neither did we. This might explain why a 47-year-old mother of two would make a sex tape and sell it to the highest bidder. All allegedly of course.

Below is more information about each housewife’s financial history –

Caroline Manzo – Caroline’s husband Albert Manzo has been involved in over 30 judgments and liens (one brought on by a family member) since the early ’90s up until two years ago . Throughout the ’90s and into 2000, there were several judgments against Caroline for nonpayment of hospital and doctors’ bills, as well another judgment involving “Church Chronicle Publishing.”

  • A state tax lien for $10,546.17 was filed against Albert Manzo in 2000.
  • A judgment in favor of the Federal Mortgage Association for $148,000 also against Al.
  • A few judgments in favor of the First Bank of USA and North Jersey Federal Credit for a combined total of over $10,000.



Dina Manzo – Jezebel reports out of all the housewives, Dina is the only one who has a clean slate when it comes to her financial history. Her husband, Tommy Manzo, is however a different story. Dina married Tommy (the brother of Caroline’s husband) in 2006 in a lavish wedding that reportedly cost $1.5 million. The wedding was featured on VH1’s My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding. You can watch that here.

  • Tommy was sued by American Express for $12,599 in 2007
  • He was also sued by the Bank of America for an undisclosed amount.



Jacqueline Laurita – Similar to Dina, Jacqueline also seems to have a clean financial slate. However as we reported this week, the company of Jacqueline’s husband, Chris Laurita, filed for bankrupty last year. The company, Signature Apparel Group LLC, was behind the Rocawear and Eve’s Fetish clothing brands. The financial issues found on the Lauritas were for the years 1988 and 1990.

  • United Jersey bank successfully won a judgment against Chris for over $18,000 in 1988.
  • American Express also successfully won a judgment against Chris for almost $3000 in 1990.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE LADIES’ FINANCIAL HISTORIES!



Danielle Staub – Danielle has been very vocal about her financial troubles on the show despite carrying designer bags, wearing $500 leggings from Neiman Marcus, getting Botox and lip injections, and having (her fourth) breast augmentation. Jezebel also shuts down Danielle’s claim that she was the first woman in New Jersey to own an American Express black card, something she bragged about in season one of the show.

  • A federal tax lien was placed against Danielle in March 2006 for $111,161 by the IRS.
  • Also in 2006, a civil suit was filed against Danielle by an attorney for an undisclosed amount, most likely stemming from nonpayment of legal bills.
  • In February 2007, a different federal tax lien was placed against Danielle— filed in a new county—and her ex-husband, Thomas Staub for $130,577 by the IRS.



Teresa Giudice – Thanks to the uncovering of her 2009 bankruptcy filing, most of Teresa’s financial troubles have now been made very public. The only new information uncovered about the Giudices comes via PEOPLE magazine’s cover story on the couple which accused Joe Giudice of being a slumlord. Jezebel confirms this and shows court documents that go back well over 10 years showing the Giudices have been sued by numerous tenants and a heating company. A small sampling of nearly 20 civil cases were uncovered.

TELL US: WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FINANCIAL HISTORY OF THE NJ HOUSEWIVES?

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