Johnny Carson Second Banana Ed McMahon Ensnared in Mortgage Crisis

According to the Los Angeles Times, Ed McMahon, best know as Johnny Carson's second banana and as the host of the long running talent variety show Star Search, has become one of the latest casualties in the mortgage crisis.McMahon, who fell and broke his neck about a year and half ago and has been unable to work, took out loans, through Countrywide Home Loans, on the property for mold remediation. He and his wife said that the home became infested with mold when another company failed to do adequate cleanup after a pipe burst and the home was flooded. Because of the shoddy remediation job, McMahon maintained that the mold grew out of control, throughout the house. He and his wife actually filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit in 2002 against his insurance company because of the toxic mold. They finally came to terms and reached a 7.2 million dollar settlement in 2003. McMahon added that not only did the mold make him and his wife sick but also killed their beloved dog Muffin. McMahon was $644,000 behind on his payments when the loan went into default. In an effort to avoid foreclosure, the property is currently for sale at the asking price of $6.25 million. According to the Hollywood Grind blog, Countrywide has refused to comment on the ongoing problems, citing privacy concerns.

I faced a situation similar to the one that is plaguing Mr. McMahon. My mother and stepfather died within a year and a half of each other and left a home that was not paid for. When they purchased the home they had to disclose their medical issues; therefore, they did not qualify for credit insurance. I was left to figure out how to make the mortgage. Not too long after their deaths, the house was flooded when Tropical storm Allison drenched Houston in 2001 and the homeowner's policy did not cover flooding. Here I was trying to figure out to rectify the problem of the flood damage and making the mortgage when an air conditioning hose became clogged up and flooded the attic, causing part of the ceiling to collapse. Mold had already been in the news, so when I started to feel ill, I called in a mold remediation person for an estimate. He informed that the house was overgrown with mold and that I would be looking at a $9000.00 bill. After crying hysterically for about an hour, which while being very cathartic, solves nothing; I looked in the mailbox only to find foreclosure papers. For a moment I thought seriously about just letting it go. I was bone weary, congested and wrung out from the stress of the situation.

Though the price tag on Ed McMahon's mortgage problems is quite a bit higher than mine, I imagine the emotions are just about the same. The prospect of losing something that either you or someone you love has worked hard for, really hits you and it doesn't matter who you are. Feelings of failure and inadequacy just naturally crop up. I'm an only child and my family was watching me to see how I would handle everything. At the time I felt like I was screwing up royally, but looking back I give myself credit. I'd lost my mother and my step father within two years of each other, both unexpectedly. Ed McMahon is probably dealing with the same feelings. Add to that the feelings of shame because he is such a high profile person. There were only a few people who saw me go through my situation. Ed has the whole world watching and commenting on his every move. Life has obstacles and the longer I live, the more I find that having prestige or money is not a defense. At the time that I was going through, all I could do was persevere. I'd never lost a parent before and to be losing her home on top of all that was almost more than I could stand. Yet, you get through and come out the other side and it makes you stronger.

I decided in the end to cut my losses and sell the house as it was. I went with the "We Buy Ugly Houses" People; a Company called HomeVestors. It was the right solution for me because it got me out from under and at that point, my peace of mind meant more to me than holding on to the house or pleasing my family members.

Mr. McMahon already has his house on the market. One assumes that since the house is up for sale that all of the problems have been fixed, especially with a $6.25 million dollar price tag. While there has been some interest in McMahon's hilltop estate, there have not been any serious inquiries. Federal regulators have admonished mortgage companies to think about relaxing the loan terms of mortgage holders who are in crisis. It is not immediately clear if this is the tack Countrywide will take with Mr. McMahon. One hopes that Mr. McMahon is able to work something out before the home is lost.

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-mcmahon4-2008jun04,0,4963138.story
http://www.rvcdlaw.com/news/news__mcmahon_mold.html
http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/tag/ed-mcmahon/