‘Real Housewives’ Star’s Bankruptcy Filing Revealed Amidst Claims Co-Star Tried to Get Her Fired

Jo-Ellen Tiberi had a rough few years before becoming a Bravo reality star. According to a new report from The Sun, The Real Housewives of Rhode Island standout filed for bankruptcy over a decade ago.

Tiberi filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2014. In the filing, the mother of three claimed total assets of only $6,425 against liabilities/debts of $61,849.34. At the time of her filing, she claimed she was unemployed, and listed her then-two-week-old son as her sole dependent. 

The report uncovered her tax returns leading up to the bankruptcy filing. In 2012, she reported $28,262 in earnings, and by 2013, her income had dropped to $21,889. For 2014, through the filing date, she claimed she’d only earned $5,555.66. Her monthly expenses at the time totaled $1,375, leaving her with a net shortfall of $1,181 every month. She claimed she’d only had $25 in cash and nothing in her bank account.

She’d gotten a 2013 BMW 328i xDrive Sedan repossessed two months before she filed, with the lender noting she still owed $41,307.88 on the car. She also owed $5,136.36 Citizens line of credit, a $210.47 Citizens overdraft, $3,860 on a Discover card, $4,946 at Nordstrom, and $6,388.63 to US Bank.

The case was closed out the following year, with her owing nothing. She married her husband, Gary, in 2016.

The discovery comes as the debut season unfolds and she clashes with co-star Rulla Nehme Pontarelli over her having a part in exposing Pontarelli’s husband’s affair. As a result, Tiberi alleges Pontarelli’s husband Brian tried to get her fired from her job in medical sales. In a confessional, Tiberi notes her husband Gary pays their mortgage but she covers all other expenses in their home and for their children, explaining her income and career is something she heavily relies on.