Forget the pastel blazers and penchant for crime-fighting: Don Johnson's latest vice is not paying his bills on time.
A Colorado lending company has petitioned a court for permission to sell the Miami Vice star's 17-acre Aspen ranch, claiming the former TV cop has failed to make good on a $10.6 million promissory note, according to the Aspen Daily News.
Johnson's publicist said the filing, which was made Mar. 16 in Pitkin County District Court but not made public until this week, "has been remedied."
"This company plans to withdraw the order," Elliot Mintz told the Aspen Daily News. "The motion, it is my understanding from Don, is to be withdrawn."
According to court documents, the New York-based D.E. Shaw Laminar Lending firm is the holder of the promissory note and was intending to leverage Johnson's Woody Acre ranch to ensure repayment for the full amount of $10,608,000.
The two-page motion claims that "defaults have occurred under the deed of trust, including...the failure to make timely payments as required under the deed of trust."
The promissory note itself was dated Aug. 30, 2004, and taken out to pay off a host of bankruptcy creditors and debts the Nash Bridges star had rung up. Four months after it was issued, Johnson's lawyers made the happy announcement that their clients debts were paid off. All except for the note lender, that is. The Johnson-controlled company that executed the note filed for bankruptcy shortly after.
The financial misstep was nothing new for Johnson, who has suffered a series of money woes in the past few years and is unfortunately no stranger to the threat of homelessness.
In 2004, the Los Angeles-based City National Bank attempted to foreclose on the ranch when a $930,447 loan note went bad. While Johnson did eventually make good on that debt, it wasn't the only close call.
Last October the actor was sued by real estate auctioneer Sheldon Good & Co., which accused him of reneging on an agreement to put the estate up for auction. According to the Aspen Daily News, the bidding was scheduled to begin in July 2005, and the company was due to receive $100,000 for related marketing expenses. The money, though, was never paid as Johnson was, per the suit, "unwilling to proceed with the auction." The case is still pending in Pitkin County Court.
The actor's monetary saga also included a stop in small claims court, after a lawsuit was brought against Johnson by Clark's Market, an Aspen grocery store, over an unpaid IOU in the amount of $5,740. He also managed to rack up bills at the Aspen Valley Hospital ($7,345), the Of Grape & Grain liquor store ($377), Isberian Rug Co. ($1,228), Planted Earth ($764) and the Aspen law firm of Garfield & Hecht ($2,787). All of the companies, though, were paid off when Johnson was issued his multimillion-dollar promissory note.
According to Mintz, Johnson currently splits his time between his Colorado ranch and an L.A. home. Johnson can use all that space: He's expecting his third child with wife Kelley Phleger this spring.