Michael, Aretha Deal with Housing Woes
The King of Pop and the Queen of Soul are working to resolve problems with their respective castles.
A "mutual agreement" struck between Michael Jackson and his presumably miffed creditors has postponed a scheduled auction of Neverland Ranch until May 14, by which time the singer is hoping to have either sold or refinanced the property, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Financial Title Co. said Friday.
Attorney L. Londell McMillan said the pop star had worked out a "confidential" agreement with Fortress Investment Group, LLC. that will allow him to hold onto the 2,500-acre spread in Los Olivos, California, for the time being.
"We expect to have this matter resolved well before May 14," McMillan told the Associated Press.
The property had been scheduled to go on the block on Wednesday after the singer defaulted on a $24.5 million loan payment. Financial Title filed default papers last month.
Jackson has not lived at Neverland since his acquittal on child molestation charges in 2005.
During his ordeal, he said he felt his privacy had been so violated by authorities' searches of the ranch that he would never occupy the premises again on a fulltime basis.
"I won't live there ever again," he said during a December 2003 60 Minutes interview. "It's a house now. It's not a home anymore. I'll only visit."
Now that his finances are seemingly in order once again (at least for the time being), he can continue to stop by when the mood strikes him.
Meanwhile, Aretha Franklin has a homeowner's headache of her own on her hands.
The singer's $700,000 mansion in Detroit has slipped into foreclosure over $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees, the Detroit Free Press reports. In all, Franklin owes $19,192 in back taxes on the property.
Franklin blamed the situation on an attorney's error.
"It was a mere oversight on my attorney's part to notify me," she told the Free Press. "It will be taken care of immediately."
The singer has until Mar. 31 to settle the outstanding payments and reclaim the property.
(Originally published Mar. 14, 2008 at 2:18 p.m. PT)
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