Celebrity foreclosures: Oh, how the mighty have fallen
Posted
May 03 2008, 08:47 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Former baseball star Jose Canseco is walking away from his 7,300-square-foot mansion in a Los Angeles suburb. But did you know he's only the latest celebrity who has faced foreclosure?
In fact, the Los Angeles Times blog L.A. Land has an occasional feature called "Celebrity Foreclosures," and so far has written about such notables as Canseco and Marion Jones. The most recent installment includes suggested headlines about Canseco like "Jose walks" and "Canseco took a walk, but was called out at home."
Luxist has a gallery of celebrities who have faced the possibility of losing property, including former NBA star Latrell Sprewell, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Courtney Love and Michael Madsen. You can find a celebrity foreclosures tag at Foreclosure.com.
The Wall Street Journal reported this about Canseco: He bought the Encino mansion in 2005 for about $2.8 million. "The house already had at least one lien placed on it, from the Internal Revenue Service, and a judgment stemming from a 2005 court ruling in which Mr. Canseco and his brother Ozzie were found liable for a 2001 brawl in a Miami Beach nightclub," the newspaper said. "Together, the liens and judgment totaled some $1.3 million," according to Canseco's attorney, Gregory Emerson, and Tina Cameron, Canseco's real estate agent.
"Given that there were liens on the house and the market had gone down, he made the decision to let it go," Emerson told the newspaper.
We know it's difficult to feel sympathy for people who have made millions. In Canseco's case, two costly divorces must have hurt.
"You know my life, this financial thing, is a very complicated issue. Obviously, when you make all that money, people think, 'OK, let's assume it is $35 million.' People have to understand that $35 million, you're paying the government 41%," he told "Inside Edition" this week. "That leaves you with about $17 (million) or $18 million, not even. Then you're taking care of your whole family."
