There's Foreclosure Trouble in Paradise

Oh dear.

Even the assumed to be wickedly rich sometimes have cash flow problems, which seems to be the unfortunate situation for the Los Angeles based and controversial property developer Robert Bisno and his wife Jeanette whose big Beverly Park mansion appears to be headed into foreclosure. Uh-oh.

Thanks to an early morning missive from our Fairy Godmother in Bev Hills, and according to several records databases we accessed, Your Mama has learned that Mister and Missus Bisno are in default on a $4,000,000 mortgage. With all the interest and penalties, records show they are in the hole $4,622,000 and 128 smack-a-roos. The process has proceeded far enough along that a February 29th auction date has been set. (Is this a leap year?) It is just a little difficult to believe that the once high flying Bisno couple can't cough up the four and something million clams required to save their property. Does this hint at a larger financial problem? Has Mister Bisno been caught over-leveraged in the midst of a mortgage meltdown and a sagging economy? Is this all some dreadful misunderstanding that will be cleared up once Mister and Missus Bisno complete a complicated debt restructuring?

Property records show these Bisno people bought and built their 11,894 square foot house in 2002. All signs point to the residence having 4 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. Records on file with the County Assessor show that some kind of transfer of the property occurred in October of 2007 with a $7,000,000 consideration. Your Mama can not confirm, but we think this may have been one of those restructuring and refinancing situations that stupendously rich people do to shuffle around their debt, protect their assets, and put a little hard cash in their pocketbook at the same time. Don't quote us on that one kids, because we're just speculatin'.

Although no one but the heartless enjoys seeing anyone's home foreclosed on, Your Mama does not imagine that the Bisnos' big name neighbors will be crying much when and if the moving vans come to haul away the Bisnos' crap. See children, several years ago the Bisnos caused quite a kerffufle with a large, and some said lewd sculpture they installed in their motor court. There was also considerable consternation over garbage cans and motorized drive gates that were deemed "too Vegas" by the Beverly Park architectural review committee. Which is kinda rich when one considers the outsize and overdone nature of most of the behemoth Bev Park residences.

Why the neighbors would give a shit about a sculpture that they would unlikely be able to see as they rolled by in their Bentleys and BMWs is beyond Your Mama scope of understanding. But the fact that the other fat livin' Bev Park residents did care about something that would have little or no visual impact on them should be an indication to all that the Bisnos were probably not the most popular couple in Beverly Park.

And this being Beverly Park, their neighbors are, of course, exceptionally successful entrepreneurs, entertainment industry bigwigs, and ridiculously rich royals. Across the street from the Bisno mansion is airplane lease billionaire Steve Udvar-Hazy and his 28,660 square foot palatial pile that sprawls across three prime parcels. Next door is the comparatively modest manse that Hollywood hot shot Mike Medavoy and his notoriously high maintenance wifey Irena currently have on the market for $23,500,000, and behind the Bisno property are three monstrous mansions that Your Mama understands are owned by several members of the Saudi royal family.

Of course, foreclosures on multi-million dollar estates are somewhat rare, but the Bisnos are far from the only seemingly stinking rich folks who are grappling with the sticky and tangled web of foreclosure. Your Mama has (too) many times discussed the drama of Michael Jackson's never ending financial fracas with Neverland Ranch, and we've well covered the nasty bizness of socialite and bible scholar Veronica Hearst's ongoing money troubles over her mammoth Manalapan mansion that is reportedly headed for the auction block.

Should the Mister and Missus Bisno be booted from behind the hallowed gates of Beverly Park, Your Mama is not overly worried that they will end up parking their Rolls Royce in front of a dumpy Hollywood apartment complex or in the car port of a run down double wide in San Bernadino. We presume that the couple own several other dee-luxe properties in Los Angeles and Berkeley (where they were at one time based). Let's just hope for their cash strapped sake, they're not carrying monstrous mortgages on those places too.