aretha franklin

Aretha Franklin Facing Foreclosure

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has become the latest member off the celebrity foreclosure club. According to the Detroit Free Press she has said that an attorney's mistake is the reason that her $700,000 mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan has slipped into foreclosure over a mere $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees. She now owes a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. She has plans to pay up and get the slate-roofed brick mansion on Hamilton Road (see pic at the Detroit Free Press article) back before the March 31 foreclosure deadline. TMZ has Aretha's official foreclosure documents.

In related celebrity foreclosure news, Michael Jackson's attorneys say that he has worked out a deal with Fortress Investment Group to save Neverland, his massive California estate which has been flirting with foreclosure for months now. The move will avoid the March 19 auction date for the home. I still say this is just a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Jackson likely cannot afford the home and he can't seem to find anyone who will buy it from him.

Gallery: Celebrity Foreclosures