Another hotel and condo complex is in foreclosure. The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Denver, Colorado is in foreclosure and condo units will be liquidated in a trustee sale next month according to Globe St. Goldman Sachs was the lender on the project which had sold only one of the 25 residential units.

The project's 25 residential condominiums and two ground-floor commercial condominiums will be sold as one property in a sealed-bid auction next month. The hotel and the condominium are located in what was once an Embassy Suites hotel. The condominium units are on floors 15-19 of the 38-story building with apartments above. The condos share a private owners' lobby with direct elevators, an owners' lounge and board room, and a dedicated concierge. The Globe St. article says that the location across from the Greyhound Bus station and the lack of balconies made the units a hard sell. They were once priced at as much as $800,000 to $4 million but more recently were priced from $500,000 to $3 million.

The Denver Business Journal reports that Chicago lender Transwestern Mezzanine Realty Partners III's lawsuit against individual owners of downtown Denver's Ritz-Carlton Hotel will go to trial next July. Transwestern is suing Ritz owners Steve Roitman and Jim Cobb of Denver-based energy and real estate company BWAB Inc. and hotel developer Charlie Biederman for $9 million in defaulted debt on the hotel. According to the article The Ritz's Forza athletic club building and condominium component have been in foreclosure since June for nonpayment of the $28.8 million balance due on a $95 million mortgage loan.

The home where the 1988 movie 'Rain Man' was filmed has had a hard year. The home in East Walnut Hills the East Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio has been foreclosed on and yesterday was the last day of an estate sale. The 14-room home was owned by Roger Ach and the foreclosure process began over the summer. It was set to be sold in a sheriff's sale in July but ownership was transferred from Ach to a trust controlled by his attorney, Charles Hertlein. Recently the Hamilton County Municipal Court signed an eviction notice on the home which is valued at $1.2 million.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Ach was foreclosed on by Cinco Family Financial Credit Union after he failed to pay the credit union $1.4 million for two mortgages with Cinco. This appears to the be the second round of foreclose for Ach on this house. The Enquirer says that in 2003 he was was sued for foreclosure and the house was sold at public auction to an attorney for a company owned by former Cincinnati Reds owner Carl Lindner, a friend of Ach's family. It was was transferred back to Ach in 2007 when Ach took out the mortgages with Cinco.

I'm sorry to hear this news, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that another grand resort has hit hard times. Aspen's historic Hotel Jerome, has been scheduled for an auction. The hotel, which opened way back in 1889, was purchased in 2007 by a pair of investors, Elysian Worldwide LLC and Lodging Capital Partners LLC. The deal was financed with a $48 million mortgage provided by Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc. Now an entity identified as Jerome Property LLC has said that the owners failed to pay the mortgage's $36.3 million balance. The foreclosure filing was recorded on September 24 and the foreclosure auction will be held in January unless something changes.

Meanwhile, the hotel, which is managed by Rock Resorts, remains open and is preparing for the busy ski season with a bunch of special offers and packages. The hotel is one of Aspen's most beloved landmarks and the J-Bar is a popular destination famous for the Aspen Crud, a milkshake and bourbon concoction that is a bit like a Mudslide that punches you in the gut.

Another sad tale of a former athlete facing financial woes has surfaced. Cindy Brown is an Olympic gold medal-winning basketball player who also played in the WNBA and around Europe. Now the former player is losing her fight to keep her Southern California home, a home she bought way back in 1989 in the town of Villa Park.

The talented player was an All-American at Long Beach State( the 60 points she scored against San Jose State in 1987 remains the NCAA record for most points scored in a single game) and a member of USA Basketball's team that won the gold in Seoul in 1988. Although she made good money as a player, as the OC Register points out, she would have made far more if she was a male player. Because there was no professional team in the United States back then she played in France, Italy, Israel, Japan and Spain, usually earning more than $100,000 a year. In 1996, Brown took a pay cut to come back to the United States and play in the American Basketball League. Later she played for the WNBA's Detroit Shock and in Utah before retiring in 2000.

Starting last year, locals began to complain to the city that Brown was not maintaining the yard on her five-bedroom home. Brown tells the OC Register that her neighbors made false assumptions about her and did not like the fact that she is African American and a lesbian. She also said that she was unable to take care of the lawn because she had lost over $1 million in a real estate scam and was on the brink of foreclosure. She has been selling everything she can and has been trying to find work but earlier this summer the Villa Park City Council declared Cindy Brown's house a public nuisance. In July, city workers took over and put drought-tolerant plants in Brown's front yard at a cost of $5,500. The city obtained a warrant to come and water the property and the total city bill for fixing Brown's lawn eventually came to $12,516.

Brown has said that the city and local authorities refused to help her and has filed a civil suit, listing 100 defendants. Earlier this week the city approved putting a lien on Brown's property. Brown says her home, which is listed with an estimate debt of more than $910,000, is scheduled to be auctioned this weekend.

I was ready to sneer at the Wells Fargo & Co. executive who helped herself to a foreclosed Malibu beach house that she was supposed to oversee but then I got a look at the property. Such temptation! I can understand why the woman might have been tempted to invite a few friends over to the $12 million beachfront home.

The owners, who had lost money in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, surrendered their fantastically-turned out estate in the pricey enclave of Malibu Colony. The secure community provides a welcome retreat for celebrities, movie execs and other affluent individuals. The fantastically wealthy area functions a bit like a small town where everyone knows each other. Residents in the community noticed the Wells Fargo exec throwing parties in the home and wrote down the license plate number of a Volvo sport-utility vehicle they say was parked in the home's garage. A check of state motor vehicle license plates by the LA Times found the vehicle was registered to Wells Fargo senior vice president Cheronda Guyton.

The 3,800-square-foot, two-story modern home is not on the market but the property website lists it as price available on request.

Keeping a golf course in the middle of the desert maintained is no easy or inexpensive task and now it looks like one luxury golf course may be fighting foreclosure. The Desert Sun reports that the private Stone Eagle Golf Course in California's Palm Desert may be facing foreclosure. The course is part of the community called The Retreat at Stone Eagle where homes can sell for several million dollars. The course was created by LDD Desert Development Inc.. Bill Powers, president of Pacific Western Bank, confirmed to the Sun that a Notice of Default was filed against Stone Eagle Golf Course. Ted Lennon, the president of LDD has said that he is working with the bank and golf course members to alleviate the situation.

The news article also says some members have been approached with a request to pay $100,000 each to help keep the golf course on track. The cooler months are prime golfing season in the desert and the turf is currently being prepped and announcements of tournaments were recently released. The comments on The Desert Sun article are pretty interesting, no one is exactly shedding a tear for the course's predicament. Some say it should never have been built and should be given back to local wildlife, others say it should be made public so locals get a chance to play.

Washington D.C.'s Watergate Hotel was left high and dry on Tuesday as a public auction failed to attract a successful bid. The 10 bidders who came to the auction each with $1 million certified checks were told they would have to pay at least the $25 million floor set by the bank. No one was willing to go that high and so the lender PB Capital made a $25 million credit bid for the property. The hotel was facing foreclosure after Washington developer Monument Realty defaulted on a $70 million loan. Monument bought the hotel five years ago and it has been closed ever since. Initially the developer planned to cash in on the real estate craze by turning it into luxury co-op apartments. Last year it decided to keep it as a hotel. Lehman Brothers was also a partner and equity investor in the property. Now with the auction result, some are wondering what will happen to the 251-room hotel famous for its involvement in the scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

The Washington Post reports that all hope may not be lost though, there are a couple of developers interested in making offers on the hotel in a private sale. PB Capital plans to market the hotel to interested buyers. Erstwhile owner Monument Realty would still like to work with new investors to push on with the company's plan to restore the property to a five-star hotel. The Watergate still needs substantial renovations which could total as much as $100 million. Monument principal Michael Darby has indicated that one reason to keep his company involved is that Monument knows the property intimately while any new owners would be starting from scratch. The Post article also says that Virginia-based developer Robert Holland is talking with Dubai-based luxury hotel chain, Jumeirah, about operating the Watergate. It would likely take a great deal of money to bring the hotel up to Jumeirah standards.

[Thanks, C.K.]

Last time we checked out the Watergate hotel back in 2007 the hotel was holding a liquidation sale in advance of a major renovation. Now the Washington Post reports that the infamous Washington D.C. hotel could be the latest hotel to head for foreclosure. Washington developer Monument Realty defaulted on a $70 million loan that came due this week. Monument bought the hotel five years ago and it has been closed ever since. Initially the developer planned to cash in on the real estate craze by turning it into luxury co-op apartments. Last year it decided to keep it as a hotel. Lehman Brothers was also a partner and equity investor in the property.

Michael J. Darby, a company principal and co-founder of Monument told the Washington Post that the company is still committed to the project and thinks the Watergate can be a "great hotel in the future." Monument is working with the lender, New York-based PB Capital, to restructure the loan. The Washington Business Journal reports that PB Capital has its own problems. Back in December PB Capital moved to foreclose on the Dumont Condominium.

The last few months have seen a rash of hotel projects facing foreclosure all around the country. The Watergate is at a distinct disadvantage because it is not open like many of the other hotels so there is no revenue coming in. What it does have is name recognition courtesy of Richard Nixon but it's not clear if that name can become associated with something more than scandal.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that the hotel may be auctioned off on July 21. Alex Cooper Auctioneers lists a property with the Watergate's address set to be sold on that date. A $1 million deposit is required.

Like quarterback Dan Marino, former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar has a home in Weston, Florida for sale. But Kosar's situation is a bit more urgent. Kosar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with his top 20 debts clicking in at $19.5 million including around $1.5 million to his former team the Cleveland Browns. Small wonder then that his Florida home is up for sale. Kosar has not paid the property taxes on the home for the last couple of years.

Kosar's home in Weston is a 9,900 square-foot mansion on the lake which has a large backyard area with a summer kitchen, pool, spa and cabanas. It is located in the same community, Windmill Ranch Estates, that Marino lives in and the home has a similar Florida Mediterranean style. This ample residence includes an office/library, a kitchen and a separate butler's kitchen and seven bedrooms. This home is listed at $3.5 million.

Kosar's financial woes seem to stem from a number of factors including Florida's depressed real estate market and some bad investing advice. His top creditor is Florida Bank which is owed $9.7 million in real estate development foreclosures. He also owed KeyBank $3.2 million for loan guarantees and a personal line of credit and owes his ex-wife Babette Kosar $3 million from the couple's divorce settlement. Like many ex-football players, he was also in the restaurant business. His Bernie's Steakhouse, a Miami-area restaurant closed last year. Kosar is said to be optimistic about his ability to get out from under his debt and he has many supporters in Cleveland and elsewhere cheering him on.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

[via Move Trends]

Last June former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield saw his massive 54,000 square foot home in Georgia slip into foreclosure. Now it looks like Holyfield is facing foreclosure again. The home has been listed for an auction scheduled for July 7 because Holyfield is in default on his $10 million loan.

Holyfield told The Associated Press that a settlement would be reached before the 235-acre estate is auctioned. The massive home has 109 rooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley. Holyfield has earned more than $200 million in the ring but has faced lawsuits over missed child support payments for some of his 11 children. His last fight was in December when he lost to WBA champion Nikolai Valuev.

Decreasing tourism has pushed another historic hotel into trouble. The Eklund Hotel in Clayton, New Mexico is a slice of the Old West that includes a saloon with bullet holes in its tin ceiling and a ghost named Irene. The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was built in 1892.

It underwent a 2.3 million renovation just five years ago. An AP report highlights the impact the hotel's closing has on the small town of 2,100. The hotel has the main restaurant and bar in town. But the owners, Eklund Association, Incorporated a group of investors that has owned the hotel since 1992 have seen business shrink and are still wrestling with debt from the renovation. The owners wanted to keep the hotel open for the summer season but had to close at the end of April.

The Eklund has 26 rooms with private baths. The renovation was paid for with a $2.16 million loan from the First National Bank in Clayton that was guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development business program but it is not known how much is owed on that loan. The State Historic Preservation Office loaned an additional $200,000 for the project and there is still $147,600, plus 3 percent interest owed on that loan. The hotel isn't officially on the market yet as the bank is still in the foreclosure process. The town is hoping that a buyer who wants to be a part of this small town will come along, save the hotel and join the community.

I've got a major update on the Lenny Dykstra situation. According to legal documentation filed at the Ventura County Recorders Office, on July 9 at the Ventura County Courthouse the trustee will hold an auction on the courthouse steps for the baseball-player-turned-almost-mogul's home in the Lake Sherwood area of Westlake Village. As you may recall when this was our estate of the day, this home was originally owned by hockey god Wayne Gretzky who reportedly spent $30 million creating the home. Bidders at the auction will need to match the money the Dykstras owe Index Investors in the approximate amount of $900,000 (in certified funds naturally).

There are two other smaller lien holders who have first right of refusal to bid on the $900,000 and there is also a mortgage of around $13.1 million with Washington Mutual. If these loans are paid then the new owner would be subject to the first mortgage loan from Washington Mutual (now Chase) and unpaid property taxes of around $275,000. This way the owner might be able to avoid obtaining a new loan (no easy feat in the current lending climate which tends to frown on jumbo loans).

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Actor Stephen Baldwin has been on TV braving the Costa Rican jungle and Speidi in "I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!" but he's facing some drama on the homefront too. Baldwin's home in Upper Grandview, New York will be put up for public auction on June 24 at Rockland County Court. Baldwin and his wife, Kennya, defaulted on paying $824,488.36 to mortgage holder Bankers Trust Co.

Baldwin bought the home for $515,000 back in 1997 and restored it. He had it on the market in 2006 for $3.4 million but took it off the market when it failed to sell. At the time it was said that Baldwin put his house on the market because of his frustration with a sex shop that had opened in his neighborhood but Page Six said that the real reason the born-again Christian put the home one the market was because he was in need of cash and owed back taxes. The sex shop changed plans after facing public pressure led by Baldwin.

LoHud.com reports that Bankers Trust will receive the first $824,488.36 brought in by the auction, followed by National City and taxing agencies, according to the county foreclosure papers, which were filed in late April. Listing pics from back in 2006 are in the gallery below.

[via Perez Hilton]

UPDATE: Baldwin's rep told People that the situation will be resolved and no auction will take place.

Another luxury hotel is in financial trouble and facing foreclosure. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the owners of the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California have defaulted on a $70-million loan. The Orange County resort became infamous last year for being the site of the $443,000 AIG retreat after the federal bailout.

The companies that own the resort are in default and the hotel has been scheduled for a foreclosure auction. Ongoing negotiations may prevent the auction but unless a deal is worked out the auction will take place on July 7. The St. Regis has a 400-room hotel, a golf course, a private beach club and several restaurants including Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern. The property is current on two other mortgages totaling $230 million. The property was refinanced in 2007 amassing $300 million in debt. The five-star hotel is located near Laguna Beach, California which is also home to Ritz-Carlton and Montage luxury resorts.

The hotel is part of the Starwood Group, a company which has seen several of its W Hotels also flirt with foreclosure. Like those hotels, the St. Regis Monarch Beach remains open. It has a Father's Day brunch planned as well as barbecue events for the Fourth of July and packages to coordinate with Laguna Beach's popular Pageant of the Masters which runs from July 8 to August 31. The art event showcases "living pictures" - re-creations of classical and contemporary works of art with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. That show and several other art festivals, brings tourists to the beach town all summer long and usually keep local resorts full of guests.

Another W Hotel is in trouble. We've heard of troubles facing the W in Phoenix but now the W San Diego has a battle of its own ahead. Yesterday Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. announced that will default on the June mortgage payment for the property. The real estate investment trust cited the travel downturn as well as the opening of other luxury hotels in the area as a reason for being unable to make the payments. Sunstone had sought lower interest rates and made the decision that, like many people in the U.S., it was underwater in its mortgage. So the investors are doing the corporate version of jingle mail and returning it to the lenders. The company says that the property which it purchased for $96 million in 2006 is worth less now. Right now the hotel has a $65 million, fixed-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities loan with a 6.14 percent interest rate due at the start of the year in 2018. This works out to more than $250,000 in debt per room.

A statement from the company says that it ""maintains more than adequate liquidity to support or repay this mortgage" but believes that turning it over to the lenders is in the best interests of stockholders. Sunstone Hotel has said that it may make the same move with selected other mortgaged hotels in its portfolios. It also owns properties under the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Fairmont brands. The W San Diego remains open.