Living After Foreclosure

Who would’ve thought it? Ed McMahon is in default on his Beverly Hills home. Star searches these days reveal rich-and-famous folks getting behind on their payments.

I’ve watched lots of shows with Mr. McMahon, including TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Star Search, and of course The Tonight Show and it is a bit sad to see him in this situation, if for no other reason than he seemed to be a jolly guy on those shows and gave away lots of money for PCH sweepstakes. And it’s not as if the guy wasn’t working: he had the house on the market for two years, and had a neck injury that put him out of work for a year and a half. (Most people would be thrilled to be able to work into their eighties.)

Still though, $644k behind in payments? That’s a lot of money. Crazy money. It’s probably a year’s worth of payments or more. The bank finally cried uncle and is trying to take what it can get.

I can’t say that I’d handle my finances differently if I had that much money rolling in, including a $7.2 million settlement for mold. If the house is on the market now for $6.25 million, why didn’t he pay down the mortgage and refinance instead of take out more money? That kind of crazy income should make it a piece of cake to live comfortably for the rest of your life, but I imagine there’s enormous social pressures in those circles to live beyond your means. (”What?! Ed McMahon has only a 2,500 square-foot house?!”) Or maybe he ended up living a bit longer than he had thought. Who knows?

Foreclosure happens to famous people, too.

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