By Chris Richburg
Former Fugees member Wyclef Jean is at the center of a new situation concerning his recently foreclosed Miami Beach mansion.
The Palm Beach Post reports that Jean took out a $2 million mortgage from Home Equity Mortgage Corp. in 2004 to purchase the estate through a corporation he owns with several friends.
Although the rapper/producer set out to renovate the canal-front property, the foreclosed home, which was appraised at $1.4 million, was left unfinished for more than two years as a series of construction liens were filed.
In addition, the property garnered $6,200 in fines from the city of Miami Beach once the $900,000 construction project halted after Jean and his partners couldn’t come up with the $177,913 in construction costs needed to finish the effort.
Court documents note that a lien was put on the property this year by the project’s architects, who have tried to collect $75,000 owed to them since 2004.
In all, Jean’s corporation now owes the bank $2.4 million.
As a result of the foreclosure, Miami-Dade county will sell the mansion in downtown Miami on December 12.
Court records also show that Jean has not paid employees who worked on the home. The entertainer has yet to comment on the situation.