Monday, November 24, 2008

Another Celeb Biting the Real Estate Dust

Uh dear. We know not a one of you will have an ounce of compassion, but another famous person has been taken out by the hammer of foreclosure. According to a Palm Beach Post columnist, former Fugee Wyclef Jean has some serious real estate woes down in Miami Beach, FL where a waterfront property owned by the Haitian hip hopper has been foreclosed and is scheduled to be sold at auction on December 12.

According to property records and recent reports, back in October of 2004 a bizness entity comprised of Mister Jean and others took a $2,000,000 mortgage on a canal front property on Miami Beach's posh Pine Tree Drive. The plans, apparently, were to rebuild the house and, we suspect but can not confirm, sell the property on at a prodigious profit. However, the project ran into financial troubles and was abandoned two years ago and built up fines of $6,200 by the city of Miami Beach. A series of construction liens were filed on the property including a $75,000 lien by the project architects. Eventually, the creditors became as angry as a hooker in church and forced a foreclosure.

The bizness group that includes Mister Jean now reportedly owes (approx.) $2,400,000 on the property. Guess we'll have to wait until December 12 to see if the the property will pull in someone with 2.4 million clams who is willing to take on the expensive headache of completing the construction.

Property records show Mister Jean has owned dee-luxe digs on Cameron Road in swanky Saddle River, New Jersey since July of 1998 where he and the wifey plunked down $1,850,000 for a 2 acre estate.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's even more of a nightmare than you think. Most building codes have changed since '04 so the original plans may need to be changed.

Even in this crappy economy I'm sure there are easier ways to make money than taking over & trying to finish this mess.

Anonymous said...

I don't blame Wyclef Jean as much as the people who were responsible for advising him on the economics/financials of this deal. Someone didn't forecast the costs accurately; the accounting was bad. It is so important to have wise experienced advisors to obtain counsel when seeking new business endeavors. Wyclef needs to fire the "yes" people ASAP.

Anonymous said...

These people in the music bizness R so Dumb. They never think that the appaulses will ever stop and when they do these move back into the hood. You know instead buying three 5000 sq ft. houses, why not just buy 1

Anonymous said...

Revised!!!
These people in the music bizness R so Dumb. They never think that the appaulses will ever stop and when they do these fools move back into their hood. You know instead buying three 5000 sq ft. houses, why not just buy 1....These dummies try to keep up with the jones. Thats why I dont feel bad for them when they go broke!

SitDownKaren said...

Who knows if he was even aware of the going-ons there. His "people" who are supposed to take care of things for him are probably more to blame.

I sorta agree with anon 2:54/2:57, he's a good producer/musician. Maybe he tried to branch out to expand his wealth and it didn't go well. A Lesson learned--Maybe?