‘Teen Mom’ Star Leah Messer Breaks Silence Amid $780k Tax Lien: ‘Don’t Count Me Out’

Still learning. Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star Leah Messer broke her silence after being hit with a new $290,000 lien, exclusively telling In Touch that she’s “figuring this all out.”

“I have worked with many different accountants over the years. At first, I was filing and paying more than I was making and then I was paying people that had me stall while ‘they handled the tax situation,’” Leah, 31, exclusively tells In Touch on Friday, June 2. “Apparently it's a long process. Then in 2020, the IRS was backed up like the entire world due to COVID. I initially got behind after my divorce from [Jeremy Calvert] and when I went to the rehabilitation facility.”

She continues, “I didn't grow up making the income that I do now, [and] I didn't have the guidance that a girl at 16 should've had to responsibly handle money and make healthy financial planning choices.”

“I'm figuring this all out on my own and passing the advice to the next generation of women in my family as I learn,” the Hope, Grace & Faith author adds. “Let this be an example for everyone out here: take that boring financial class in high school or college. Your future self WILL thank you for it!”

Leah – who shares twin daughters Ali and Aleeah with ex-husband Corey Simms and daughter Addie with second ex-husband Jeremy – went on to say that she shouldn’t be counted out as she is on the path to clearing her debt.

“This past year I have connected with an amazing accountant and tax attorney that is seeing me through this. My hope in the future is to bring awareness and the same wisdom that I've gathered over the past year to my platform,” she says. “When you know better, DO better. This will be rectified sooner than later!”

The West Virginia native was hit with a $290,297.00 by the federal government’s West Virginia jurisdiction on May 8, 2023, In Touch previously confirmed. According to online records viewed by In Touch, she has five other liens for a total of $779,147.46. The liens were filed in 2014, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023, according to the West Virginia County Clerk’s Office.

Leah’s money troubles could be one of the reasons her name was not listed on the deed of the home she shared with ex-fiancé Jaylan Mobley. The former couple moved into a Charleston, West Virginia, home in March 2022.

Shortly after announcing the news of the purchase, however, In Touch exclusively confirmed that the U.S. Army officer was the sole owner of the house, as Leah’s name was not included on the deed.

It was later revealed that Jaylan received a mortgage offered through a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program (a VA loan) for the full price. Per the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, a down payment is not needed for a VA loan “as long as the sales price isn’t higher than the home’s appraised value.”

Despite claiming to have added her name after the purchase, following their October 2022 split, Leah slammed her ex for lying about the house deed.

“He said he was trying to get me on the deed AFTER we made it back home from Costa Rica. BUT while we were there, he made it seem ON-CAMERA as though it was already complete and done,” she shared via her Instagram Story in December 2022. “I take full responsibility for believing that because I even asked, ‘Don’t I have to be present?’ And he said, ‘No, because I’m the sole owner.’ It’s the lying…”