Monday, November 7, 2011

Monday Morning Morsel: Rihanna



Thanks to Our Fairy Godmother in Beverly Hills Your Mama recently learned that Grammy-winning pop music sensation Rihanna (née Robyn Fenty) has somewhat quietly floated her water-logged Beverly Hills, CA mansion on the market with an asking price of $4,500,000.

The children may recall that the Barbados-born international superstar snatched up the very contemporary crib high in the hills above Beverly back in September 2009 when she paid $6,900,000 for the then newly constructed 8 bedroom and 10 bathroom celebrity-size mansion.

Just over a two years later, in late August (2011), it was revealed and widely reported by all the celebrity and real estate gossips that Riri was mad as a wet cat and had filed a lawsuit against the property developer (and a slew of others) that claims design and construction defects repeatedly allowed (rain) water to infiltrate and cause significant damage to various parts of the house after even the most moderate of rain storms.

The gist and heart of the legal matter is that Rihanna (and her team of legal eagles and business managers) alleges the house was poorly constructed and leaks like a sieve when it rains. The suit goes on to claim the seller–named in property records and legal documents as Heather Rudomin–was or should have known about and disclosed the defects. In California, as in many states, sellers of real property must disclose any known defects or issues that might affect the value, use or enjoyment of the property. Not to disclose known faults constitutes fraud.

A document provided to Your Mama by Our Fairy Godmother in Beverly Hills makes no bones about the current condition of the hill topping city view property–pictured in the document looking abandoned with paper and debris strewn over the front motor court–as having "significant water intrusion & moisture issues throughout" as well as "encroachment issues." Furthermore, the listing states the property may be "subject to short sale" and that the seller "will consider all offers."


We don't know the status of Miss Riri's lawsuit against the property developer or any of the other many folks named in the suit, but it's clear she's ready to put this real estate episode behind her even if it means a multi-million dollar gut punch to her pocketbook.

Note: listing photos above show the house as it appeared when Rihanna purchased the property and may or may not reflect the current condition and/or day-core of the home.

aerial photo: Google
listing photos: Coldwell Banker Previews International

11 comments:

Desert Donna said...

Encroachment issues haha..girl can open a window and borrow some grey poupon from that arial photo! And isnt that what title insurance is for if there are any legit ones?

angie said...

Apparently she didn't think it was necessary to have a new home thoroughly inspected by someone independent and reputable. Expensive lesson, for real. I'm pretty sure she'd be more money ahead by having the house fixed properly first and then selling it. Easy come, easy go.

Anonymous said...

Goodness who will purchase this stucco pile of legal messes of messes! Dayum!

Anonymous said...

A short sale? WTF? This is the type of situation that the banksters should be able to get a deficiency judgement for - unlike when they go after the little people.

Lady J

Anonymous said...

Regardless of her beef with the current owner, why would the home be subject to short sale?

She has more than enough money to cover her payments and should be covering her payments on the home.

Anonymous said...

hello riahnnaa u r so bueatiful and rich i love you. do you love the poor? u do not put them under your um-um-um-um-um brella-brella
brella. They get wet, huh? Poor, poor, wet people. Why did that man
beat u? You said with eminem that maybe you like it all the lies...what's wrong with u, girl. but your ok now and ruining Coldplay songs. Your house leaks...where is your um-um-um-brela brella-brealla? It's not like you cant buy one. You should sue somebody to buy u many tarps
and aluminum sidings. u like s and m like it like it and your so bad ur good but what does it matter if your not wet in all the right places.

Anonymous said...

"(Rihanna) snatched up the very contemporary crib high in the hills above Beverly back in September 2009 when she paid $6,900,000 .."

Christ, she was all of 21 years old then, only 23 now. Why in the hell is any 21 year old buying a $6.9 million Beverly Hills mansion, after only a handful of hit singles that go for 99 cents on iTunes?

I ask this in response to Anon 12:14 : "She has more than enough money to cover her payments and should be covering her payments on the home."

I am not so sure that she "has more than enough money", at all. Rihanna is an impresssive pop artist who's racked up an impressive 9 number-one singles. But here's the thing: recorded music doesn't make the big bucks they once did, she is under contract to Jay-Z and to her record label, she has to share that. She tours sometimes, to moderate venues, doesn't always sell out shows. She might have a few endorsement deals I don't know about, but her revenue stream seems limited to recordings, and these days that is peanuts.

I think she's doing that disastrous thing young popstars do, overextending themselves because they think the money and fame will last forever. And they're encouraged to overspend and overextend themselves by record companies because it puts the artists further in their debt. I used to like Rihanna at first- I find her sort of a personality-free sex robot lately though. Still, I honestly wish her well, but she is in actual truth not someone rich enough to be dropping $6.9 mil on a house at 21 like she did then. Someone needs to show her what happened to MC Hammer and his financial disaster, not kidding. Her sort of career is fleeting, and she really ought to wise up and take care.

Anonymous said...

7:11 you are delusional if you don't think that Rihanna has made enough money to buy a $7 million house. She has been around for awhile now, has had a bazillion hit songs including many many number ones as you stated and does numerous sold out concert tours all the time all over the world plus has endorsement deals.

If she can't afford a $7 million house then the rest of the singers out there should be living in $200,000 condos and driving 5 year old Toyota Camrys.

Nils Rudovics said...

Your Mama, I'm happy to give credit when it is due. I compliment you on being able to include a correct concise definition of the duty of disclosure in the midst of a gossip column. I will only add that the same duty extends to all brokers & agents involved.

I flagged this story when the lawsuit was first filed as I smelled something. As I’ve posted elsewhere, there’s a story in the background: 18 months to file a lawsuit for damage that occurred during the first modest rain and now rushing just 3 months later after filing the suit to dump the property in a Short Sale where she walks away without a penny? As I said, there’s a story in the background.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:45 : I didn't say she couldn't afford a $7 million house, I said it was utterly foolish of her to do so at 23, especially for such a piece of shit that's falling apart. For which she has a mortgage on, by the way.

At the height of his fame, MC Hammer could afford his splendid mansion, and hire fifty friends and relatives. And within a few years, hello bankruptcy.

I'm not saying Rihanna hasn't done well- just that recorded music doess not make the $ that it used to, and Rihanna does not keep all that money. I'd put her net worth at about $15 million. So spending nearly half that on a crumbling house is insane. I would say you're the delusional one if you think Rihanna is going to have a career in ten years. She can't really sing, she is low on personality, and whatever money she is making now needs to last her the rest of her life, because she does not have a long career ahead of her. Extravagant spending has been the downfall of many a young musical act hit with sudden stardom, they think it will last forever, the money will keep flowing, so they buy castles and planes until they're washed up and in debt, broke. If she's not careful, that's where she's headed. Don't shoot the messenger there. Rihanna doesn't have some sort of soulful voice that will see her into middle age and beyond as an artist; she needs to be really careful with her money now, because it ain't gonna last.

Anonymous said...

Rihanna's esarnings last year alone was $30 mil yes managemnet keeps a chunk but she been churning out hits for 7 years then there's the endorsements now she is doing movies and looks like she can act. She must be careful with her money but for a 23 year old with a potentially 20 year plus career ahead of her she is doing exttremely extremely well. Rihanna comes across as knowing eactly what she wants and what she is doing I would be very surprised if she does'nt go from strength to strength financially.