Sunday, May 8, 2011

What?! Prince in foreclosure?!


I know the foreclosure crisis has been super-bad, but now it's even badder, given that it's knocking on the door of the baddest, most ridiculously funky musician to ever emerge from the frozen north: the Minnesota Landowner Currently Known as Prince. Or MLCKP, if you prefer.
The Carver County Sheriff's Office reports that the multitalented, multiplatinum Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has fallen behind $368,382 on the mortgage to his 20-acre former manse in Chanhassen, the Minneapolis suburb that he's called home since 1980. A sheriff's auction is set for May 13.
Has Prince been paying property tax like it's 1999? Photo by PR Photos
According to the foreclosure notice in the Chaska Herald, His Paisleyness bought the property in 1994 for $605,000. But you won't find him mixing tracks there these days; he leveled the place in 2005, leaving only the tennis court and gatehouse. The property is currently valued at $1.15 million.
Prince's publicist denies the report. USA Today quotes a local legal firm as saying there is "a decent likelihood" that The Artist will send The Payment before The Auction.
Given that Prince coughed up $1.3 million last year in current and delinquent property taxes on 14 parcels in Chanhassen, it would indeed seem unlikely that MLCKP would let the place go for a song.
But it's a sign o' the times that even well-heeled celebrities have been drawn into the foreclosure undertow. A host of them have run afoul of the taxman lately as well.
What's the takeaway? Three words: Pay. Your. Bills.
Yes, there's a whole alternate reality, a dark marketplace out there that wants you to believe that it's more complicated than that.
But it isn't. To avoid foreclosure, pay your bills.
And when it comes to home mortgages and living beyond your means, don't party like it's 1999. 
Now excuse me, I have to get back to "Little Red Corvette."


Read more: What?! Prince in foreclosure?! | Bankrate.com http://www.bankrate.com/financing/mortgages/what-prince-in-foreclosure/#ixzz1Loy1i7Ay

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