The Creep That He Is
-by the Mysterious Flying Miser
Not long ago, renters and real-estate naysayers were being told that “rich people” were responsible for the outlandish increase in house prices. Some of us tried to argue that rich people were in the habit of borrowing money, and that many of them were borrowing more than they could afford (just like everyone else). We all know who turned out to be right on that score. Just for fun though, let’s be a sport and check in on a few of the better-known members of the privileged and well-connected:
From the Wall Street Journal:
“The owners of the 400-room St. Regis Monarch Beach resort, the site of a maligned retreat last fall for top sales performers of bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc., turned over the beleaguered property to its mezzanine lender, Citigroup Inc.”
From the New York Post:
“The bank has been given the go-ahead to foreclose on Victoria Gotti’s palatial estate on Long Island — the same used in the TV reality show “Growing Up Gotti” — saying she owes a whopping $650,000 in mortgage payments.
“Gotti’s lender, JP Morgan Chase, claims the daughter of the late Gambino crime family boss John ‘Dapper Don’ Gotti — owes them the staggering amount after she failed to make payments for two years starting in September 2006, court records reveal.
“The 46-year-old former reality TV star, who used to own the Old Westbury home along with her former husband Carmine Agnello, became the sole owner in 2005, according to court records.
“Asked about Agnello’s involvement, (Gotti’s mother) barked, ‘The creep that he is, he took out a mortgage behind her back. She can’t afford to pay.’”
From the Denver Public Relations Blog:
“Ernie Bjorkman is in the news again this week, but it isn’t a New York Times profile or a guest appearance on Oprah. He and his wife are listed in the foreclosures section of the Denver Business Journal, with U.S. Bank foreclosing on his home in Englewood that carries a $367,470 balance. I stand by my last comment on the subject:
“‘Could someone please explain to me how former KWGN/Channel 2 anchor Ernie Bjorkman can make the rounds on national media talking about his financial struggles after losing his anchor job? Today it was the Oprah Winfrey show. The guy made $250,000 a year and, within five months of being out of work, he has to borrow $1,000 from a friend to cover his car payment. Seriously?’”
From Zillow.com:
“Actor Stephen Baldwin, one of the Long Island-raised Baldwin brothers who all went into acting careers, is losing his Old Mountain Road home in Nyack, NY to foreclosure. The Baldwin home will be auctioned off on June 24, according to LoHud.com.
“According to public records, Baldwin and his wife, Kennya, paid $515,000 for the circa-1850 home in 1997. He then listed the property for $3.4 million in 2006, with the desire to find a bigger property so he could keep horses, but it did not sell.
“LoHud reports that the Baldwins defaulted on paying $824,488.36 to mortgage holder Bankers Trust Co. and county filings show the Baldwins owe National City Bank money for a separate mortgage and may owe tens of thousands in unpaid state and federal taxes on the property.”
OK, so this one isn’t really rich or famous, BUT STILL! From TV38:
“Tammy Berry betrayed an entire community. Now Habitat for Humanity is in the process of taking back an opportunity Berry once had to help her and her family get back on their feet.
“The grass is overgrown and screens are knocked out of the windows. 22 Glenside Ave. in Billerica is a Habitat for Humanity house that was supposed to be a much-needed home, a dream come true for Tammy Berry and her family, but when the I-Team started looking into Tammy Berry’s habitat deal last February, we discovered she was breaking some of the habitat rules.
“Now Habitat of Greater Lowell is in the process of closing the door on the charity they gave to Tammy Berry.
“‘For us this is very difficult, we’ve had to do a lot of soul searching,’ said Dana Owens of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell.
“Over the years, Berry’s friends and other family members have actually been the people who called the Habitat house home. During the I-Team’s investigation, we found Tammy Berry, Habitat’s client, living with her husband 12 miles away in Lowell.
“Not only did we find Berry living in a different house, we found a woman who says rooms at the house were once up for rent and a document backs those claims up. According to state records, Jessica D’Amico paid Berry monthly for room and board. ‘It’s just wrong what she does and she’s making a lot of money off people for something she was practically given.’”
