Foreclosures Of The Rich And Famous

The last couple of years haven't been difficult on just the average Joe. According to a RealtyTrac study conducted for The Wall Street Journal, many rich and famous people found themselves struggling to keep up with their lavish lifestyles. In fact, RealtyTrac predicts that we are likely to see a sharp rise in foreclosures throughout 2010.

Although real estate experts are expecting to see an increase in foreclosures among the rich and famous over the next year, this isn't something that has just started to happen recently. Here's a look at some of the rich and famous who found themselves facing foreclosure in 2008 and 2009:

*Aretha Franklin - the queen of soul owed $19,192 on her 10,000 square foot mansion after she failed to pay $445 in taxes and was charged thousands of dollars in late fees. Fortunately, she managed to pay her fine on time and was able to keep her home after it slipped into foreclosure.
*Amber Frey - the star witness in the Laci Peterson case owed $20,000 on her home and ultimately turned it over to the bank after she was unable to sell the home at auction.
*Fantasia Barrino - owed $80,000 on her 6,232 square foot home after she defaulted on a loan she took out to pay off her back taxes. She was able to reach a settlement with her lender in order to save her home.
*Adam "Pacman" Jones - the former Cowboys defensive back took out two mortgages on his 5,845 square foot home, but ended up owing $1.5 million after he was suspended from the NFL. Although he ultimately got back in the game, it was too late to save his home.
*Latrell Sprewell - the All-Star NBA guard lost his suburban home and his 70 foot yacht when he angrily retired after being offered "only"$21 million for a three-year contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
*Vin Baker - the former NBA star lost his 9,300 square foot mansion, which included a basketball court, a two-lane bowling alley and a pool, after defeating on his loan.

Nicolas Cage is also currently facing some financial troubles, with his Bel-Air mansion being placed in foreclosure auction just this week. In addition, just last month, a condo owned by Italian film producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori was sold for $33.2 million in a foreclosure auction.

Since the wealthy tend to have a large amount of money in reserve, they are typically among the last to start losing their homes during a mortgage crisis. A quick look at the figures shows that we certainly seemed to arrive at this point. While there were only 1,312 foreclosure notices on homes with loans of $5 million or more during the entire year in 2009, there were 352 homes scheduled for foreclosure auction in February of 2010 alone. While these figures are modest when compared to the income levels of the home owners, it serves as proof positive that it isn't just the little guy who is struggling with today's troubled economy and housing market.