Bank foreclosing on O.J. Simpsons Florida house

MIAMI – Like tens of thousands of other Florida homeowners, imprisonedformer football star O.J. Simpson is in danger of losing his house to foreclosure.

Miami-Dade Circuit Courtrecords show that JP MorganChase filed for foreclosurein September on thefour-bedroom, four-bath house south of downtown Miami. Simpson’s attorney has since filed a motion to dismiss the case, but there has been nofurther action since November.

Simpson bought the4,233-square-foot house in 2000for $575,000, property records show. Its current assessed value is $478,401, with property taxes of about $9,000. The 2011 taxes were paid in December.

The 64-year-old formerfootball star and actor isserving a nine-to-33 -year prisonsentence stemming from a2007 armed confrontation with sports memorabilia dealersin a Las Vegas casino hotel room. Simpson was convicted ofkidnapping, armed robbery and other charges. He is appealing the conviction.

Simpson was acquitted in1995 in the Los Angeles slayingsof his ex-wife, Nicole BrownSimpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. A civil jury in California later ordered Simpson to pay $33.5 million for Goldman’s wrongful death. The attorneyfor Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, said Monday the bankruptcy case played directlyinto the Simpson foreclosure.

“No surprise at all,” said David J. Cook, the Goldman attorney in San Francisco who has spent years trying tocollect the judgment.

Simpson received$750,000 in 2007 for a bookghostwritten under his nametitled “If I Did It,” Cook said. A Florida bankruptcy judgeeventually awarded rights to the book to Goldman, who released it. Cook said it sold some150,000 copies.

About $350,000 of Simpson’smoney went to pay down a line of credit tied to his Miami-area home. The bankruptcy trustee,however, filed a so-calledclawback lawsuit against the bank that sought return of the money as ill-gotten gains. Cook said when the bank paid the money, Simpson’smortgage amount was raised to offset the cost.

“It was just a matter of time before he would lose the house,” Cook said.

Even in prison, Simpson has income from his NFL pension and anotherretirement account that is shielded under federal law from creditors. Residualpayments from Simpson’s movies, such as the “Naked Gun” series and “The Towering Inferno,” go to the Goldmans.