Legal Brief: Birnbaum Sues Gallin

Hold on to your legal britches bitches because it seems pop music superstar Rihanna isn't the only high profile person in Hollywood engaged in an ugly legal dispute over (alleged) construction defects and water proofing issues at a multi-million dollar mansion in Beverly Hills (CA).



According to gossip juggernaut TMZ Tinseltown tycoon Roger Birnbaum, currently co-CEO and co-Chairman of MGM–recently filed suit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against talent manager turned high-end house flipper Sandy Gallin. Mister Birnbaum's suit claims that not only did his swanky Bev Hills house began to leak last winter but that there are also significant dry rot and rust issues. He's seeking, as per the peeps at TMZ, $500,000 to cover repairs and related costs.



Mister Gallin, as per prop records and previous reports, paid $5,350,000 for a run down residence on a squeezy .39 acre flag lot in the lower Benedict Canyon area in November 2005. He transformed the house into a 7,187 square foot contemporary farmhouse wrapped in gray shingles. Stylistically the house (shown above in listing photos) could comfortably be picked up and dropped on to a farm view parcel in the Hamptons. Mister Gallin sold the casual but sophisticated residence to Mister Birnbaum in May 2007 for $16,500,000.



Your Mama discussed Mister Birnbaum's Gallinified mansion at length back in April 2009 when, less than two years after he bought the it, he had a real estate change of heart and flipped the property back on the market with a $16,000,000 price tag. As of this morning Mister Birnbaum's real estate thorn in his side has been on the open market 871 consecutive days without a single price reduction.



Current listing information states the mini-estate is "of unparalleled quality, timeless design, the finest materials and accoutrements." Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Given the legal matters at hand we are certainly not about to pass judgement as regards to the quality of the house. However, Mister Birnbaum's lawsuit a priori calls this characterization of the house into question. If he thinks he's had a tough time selling this house for $16,000,000–and 871 consecutive days on the market with no price reduction does indicate he's had a real devil of a time unloading his albatross–then a publicized lawsuit that alleges the house has serious defects and construction flaws will not likely help his plight. He has, by his lawsuit, turned this "estate of unparalleled quality" into something of a fixer upper with at least half a million clams in necessary repairs.



Of course, all this judicial ugliness does not mean that someone won't still and shortly fall in love with Mister Birnbaum's fixer and pay through the nose to buy it. However, all this business does suggest that he just might not be able to sell it for nearly as much as he originally hoped.



Certainly Mister Gallin could quickly and quietly cough up half million clams and be done with the matter but Your Mama fully expects that he'll lawyer up for an honest to goodness real estate cat fight. At that risk of sounding like we're giddy with schadenfreude–we're really not–somebody pop some popcorn and grab some Good & Plentys because multimillionaires who sue the developers of their super pricey properties just might turn into a fascinating trend of cinematic proportions.



listing photos: Everett Fenton Gidley for Westside Estate Agency

Did Piazza Sell to Piven?

SELLER: Mike Piazza

BUYER: (allegedly) Jeremy Piven

LOCATION: New York City, NY

PRICE: $4,582,125

SIZE: 3,012 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms



YOUR MAMAS NOTES: The New York Post reports today that Entourage actor Jeremy Piven recently acquired an approximately 6,000 square foot duplex penthouse in the same swank New York City building where comedian and lefty-liberal agitator Jon Stewart owns a lofty spread. The Post goes on to report that Mister Piven's "Muscular & voluminous" new pad in the downtown neighborhood known as TriBeCa has three bathrooms, 1,800 square feet of outdoor space and "once belonged to former Mets slugger Mike Piazza."



Now children, with all due respect for our gossip compadres at The Post, some of the details they put forth quite simply do not add up. Buckle your mental safety belts, butter beans, we're going to try to use our pea brain to make some sense of the celebrity real estate matter and it gets a little confusing if you're not paying attention.



Back in November 2005 Mister Stewart sold his Greenwich Village apartment for $3,995,000 to sassy and way too tan Project Runway judge and fashion world queen Michael Kors and his new hubby Lance LePere. The Stewart family traded up into a sprawling two floor penthouse in TriBeCa that property records show measures 5,802 square feet, a number very close to 6,000 square feet. Old listing information for Mister Stewart's rather colossal crib states the 3 bathroom duplex has over 600 square feet of private terrace plus an additional 1,200 square feet of private roof space. That totals, as per our bejeweled abacus, 1,800 square feet of outdoor space, the exact amount mentioned in the Post's report this morning. As far as we can tell from our spin through property records, Mister Stewart's penthouse in TriBeCa was never owned by Mike Piazza. In fact, property records and other online reports show Mister Stewart purchased his jumbo penthouse from a quirky turtle collector named Richard Ogust. That's right, a turtle collector right in the heart of downtown New York City.



Anyhoo, the year before, in November (2004), the former catcher for the Mets paid $4,215,874 for the building's other, smaller duplex penthouse. Listing information and previous reports show Mister Piazza's penthouse measures 3,012 square feet and includes 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and 968 square feet of outdoor space. The outdoor living areas of Mister Piazza's pad are divvied up between a glass-walled courtyard off the upper level master bedroom and two separate roof terraces connected by a spiral staircase and outfitted with a built-in all Viking brand outdoor kitchen and weatherproof speaker system.



In short, the peeps at the Post reported that Mister Piven purchased Mister Piazza's penthouse but the apartment details they offer clearly reference the (old and no longer active) listing for Mister Stewart's penthouse next door.



So, whose apartment did Mister Piven purchase? Mister Piazza's or Mister Stewart's? Well, puppeenuh weenas, we have heard zilch about Mister Stewart wanting to sell his penthouse and a few minutes research did not turn up an active listing for his downtown duplex digs.



What we did figure out is that Mister Piazza finally, recently, and at long last unloaded his TriBeCa penthouse that has been on and off the market since at least early August 2008 when he pushed the sleek and sexy bullpen on the market with an asking price of $6,800,000. The price tag quickly dropped to $6,500,000 and after six months on the (open) market the long and lean penthouse was de-listed in early 2009.



Property records and Property Shark show Mister Piazza sold his New York City white elephant in mid-June 2011. The buyer paid a ridiculously complicated $4,582,125. The new owner's identity is shielded behind a newly-minted limited liability company set up, it appears, for the express purchase of the airy apartment. Therefore and in all honesty we are unable at this point to directly connect Mister Piven to Mister Piazza's penthouse.



With all that nonsense in mind, just about all Your Mama can say with certainty is that prop records show Mister Piazza sold his penthouse for $4,582,125 in mid-June 2011. What we do not know for sure is if Mister Piven is the man behind the domestic limited liability company that bought the apartment. Despite the perplexing report in the Post, iffin Your Mama were the wagering type–and we're not–we'd double down on red that Mister Piven did buy Mister Piazza's penthouse. However we haven't the specific intel to make that claim. So, for now folks, Mister Piven's purchase is merely rumor and gossip as far as Your Mama is concerned. Perhaps he'll give us a ringy-dingy on our bedazzled and bedraggled princess phone to let's us know the complete what's what on the matter.



It's unlikely that Mister Piven really will give Your Mama a ringy-dingy–we're not stoopid after all–but we have no doubt whatsoever that we will soon receive an angry phone call and inevitable verbal lashing from our boozy ball-luvin' b.f.f. Fiona Trambeau whose loins burn like a brick oven for Mister Piazza. We know that as soon as ol' Fiona finds out Mister Piven may have purchased Mister Piazza's penthouse she's going to go 49 kinds of berserk. She will probably run into traffic, pee on some one's porch, and eat chicken feet slathered in kimchi. She will most certainly speak in tongues at an ear piercing volume. We fully expect that she will scream bloody murder through the telephone about the absolute vulgarity than an (allegedly) Mercury poisoned man-ho like Jeremy Piven might pollute sacred real estate space once occupied by the physical perfection that is Mike Piazza. Now, hunnies, listen. We are here to tell you that our Miss Trambeau is in no position to cast aspersions at Mister Piven. Beotch has a goddam revolving door on her studio apartment in San Francisco and we shudder to think of the number of goopy STDs Fiona's had over her long, long, loooong years of activity. But cast aspersion she most assuredly will, at length and with a vitriol that borders on mental illness.



Mister Piven has long called Malibu, CA home where back in July 2004 he coughed up $3,500,000 for an ocean front residence near Pepperdine University that the Los Angeles County Tax Man shows measures 2,424 and includes 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.



Mister Piazza and his former Playboy Playmate wife Alicia Rictor made a baby in 2007 and maintain an 8 bedroom and 9 bathroom mansion in Miami Beach, FL he/they bought in early 2008 for $10,000,000.



Uh-oh...Somebody run quick and get Your Mama a nerve pill and bring us a god damn gin & tonic–extra lime, please–because the phone is ringing and it's Fiona...



listing photos and floorplan: Brown Harris Stevens

Rihanna Gets Mad and Sues A Lot of People

Gossip juggernaut TMZ and others reported today that four time Grammy winning superstar Rihanna is hella heated up and hopping mad about (alleged) construction defects that affect the livability and value of the the big ol' Beverly Hills, CA mansion she bought back in September of 2009. The music industry phenom and tabloid headliner is so furious she's filed a lawsuit against just about everyone who had anything to do with the construction and transactional due diligence of the high-priced property.



Property records and previous reports show the Barbadian bombshell–née Robyn Fenty–paid $6,900,000 for her newly constructed/renovated contemporary crib dramatically situated on a promontory at the tail end of a curling cul-de-sac in the Beverly Crest neighborhood.



Riri's lawsuit filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court encompasses a handful of causes of action including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, breach of contract, and breach of implied warranty. The lawsuit claims the seller–named in the lawsuit as Heather Rudomin–was (or should have been) aware but failed to disclose major waterproofing and construction defects that resulted in significant damage to the fancy mansion after what the legal documents called a "moderate rainstorm" in January 2010. The lawsuit claims that the defects devalue the house by millions less than what the sartorial daredevil paid for the place and Riri wants some of her money back plus attorney's fees.



TMZ reported that along with former owner Adrian Rudomin Miss Riri's lawsuit also names a number of others including the property inspector, the engineers who worked on the house, and at least one of the real estate agents involved in the transaction, Shelley Brown of Prudential California Realty who represented Miss Riri in the purchase. Redfin shows the property was listed at the time of the sale with Joyce Rey, one of the highest of the high-powered grande dames of Platinum Triangle real estate. Miz Rey is not named in the suit.



Listing information from that time Miss Riri purchased the property shows the gated contemporary crib sits heavily on .86 hill top acres at the tail end of a short cul-de-sac and measures more than 10,000 square feet over three floors with 8 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms



The heart of the hulking house is a dramatic airplane hangar-sized living/dining area with milk-chocolaty hardwood floors, fireplace, towering walls of glass with city to ocean views, and glass-railed bridge that connects two second floor wings of the modern mansion. Other interior spaces include a den/family room with fireplace, eat-in kitchen with not just one but two gigantic center islands, office, staff quarters, art studio, fitness room, media/music room, wine cellar and home theater with wide screen and state-of-the-art projection equipment.



The gated grounds encompass a tight motor court with two-car attached garage, flat lawn the narrows to a small sun deck with city and ocean views, and a small swimming pool and spa surrounded by an entertainment terrace and deck cantilevered over the canyon.



Anyone want to take bets that regardless of the outcome of her legal matters Little Miss Riri will soon if she doesn't already desire new digs, preferably one not freighted with the psychic weight of judicial trauma?



aerial photo: Google

listing photos: Coldwell Banker Previews International