When the real estate bubble popped in 2008, even the rich and famous weren’t immune from the consequences. As of October, foreclosure filings–default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions–were reported on 332,172 properties, a 4% decrease from the previous month but almost exactly the same total reported in October 2009, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. Here’s a look at some highly publicized foreclosures since 2008:
Michael Jackson
Known as “the most famous foreclosure ever,” the king of pop defaulted on a $24.5 million loan in 2008 for his 2,676-acre Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., which included an amusement park, a zoo, and giant statues. To avoid foreclosure, he sold the property to a real estate investment company, Colony Capital LLC. There were plans to renovate and re-sell it but presently, nothing has come to fruition.
Toni Braxton
The six-time Grammy winner has sung the foreclosure blues not once but twice. She defaulted on her mortgage payments for her 2,306 square-foot condo in Century City, Calif that she purchased in 1996 for $725,000. Braxton owed Bank of America $12,503 for the mortgage loan. The property sold in late 2009 and was listed at more than $1.2 million. This year, she had to foreclose on her Henderson, NV home that she bought in 2007 for $2.6 million. The home was sold in September for a little over $1 million.
Damon Dash
The co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records landed in hot water in late 2008 when he stopped paying his $78,000 monthly mortgage bill for his 5,200 square foot duplex in New York City’s Tribeca. He owed his lender $7.3 million. This past summer, his condo was sold in a foreclosure sale for $5.5 million.
Fantasia
The season three ‘American Idol’ nearly lost her 6,232 square-foot mansion in Charlotte, NC in late 2008. Barrino purchased the home in early 2007 for $1.3 million. She owed her Florida lender $80,000 on a loan that she took out to cover back taxes. The home was going to be auctioned in early 2009 but the sale was called off at the last minute when Barrino reached a settlement with her lender.
Xzibit
The rapper and former ‘Pimp My Ride’ host faced foreclosure in 2009 on his Woodland Hills mansion in California because he owed as much as $21,400 in mortgage back payments.
Wyclef
The Haitian native and former Fugees member lost a waterfront mansion in Miami that he purchased through a corporation he owns with friends. Jean borrowed $2 million from Home Equity Mortgage Corp in 2004 with the intent of re-building it, but the property stayed nearly abandoned for two years while payments racked up. In total, Jean’s corporation owed $2.4 million. Jean reportedly settled his debt with the bank before bidding for the property commenced.
Chamillionaire
The rapper, whose real name is Hakeem Seriki, got caught “ridin’ dirty” by his mortgage lender earlier this year for his 7,583 square-foot home in Houston, TX that he bought in 2006. According to Chamillionaire, the $2 million mansion was “worth nothing” and he never lived in it due to his busy touring schedule. He made a “business decision” and chose to default on the mortgage.
LaToya Jackson
Michael hasn’t been the only Jackson in financial woes. Older sister LaToya lost her 1,856 square-foot condo in Las Vegas in a public auction last year. Reportedly, she had difficulty paying for the condo for a number of years; she owed nearly $750,000 for a home she paid $260,000 for back in 1996.
Doug E. Fresh
The human beat box got hit with foreclosure action on all three of his Harlem homes in 2008. He fell behind in payments of up to $1.73 million on local real estate he invested in following his success on the hip-hop scene in the 1980s. Due to the unpaid mortgages, banks sought to collect more than $3.5 million.
