JPMorgan Chase Files Notice of Foreclosure on Liberace Vegas Villa

JPMorgan Chase filed a Notice of Foreclosure on one of Liberace's famous homes, known to insiders as the 'Las Vegas Villa.' Why does Sin City sit idly by as the former home of Mr. Showmanship might end up on the auction block? You'd be surprised.

Liberace Las Vegas Villa at 4982 Shirley

The Las Vegas Villa is the home where the aging pianist and lavish Sin City personality spent his last years. Previously listed with Keller Williams, the brochure does little justice to the opulent interior. Antique Grecian marble pillars dating back to the time of Christ, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, hand-carved doors and a $1.5 million ceiling painting that mimics the Sistine Chapel - but with Liberace's likeness - adorn the home.

JPMorgan Chase Foreclosure Filing

As outlined by Steve Friess from AOL News, the owner of the Las Vegas Villa, real estate mogul Terrance Dzvonick, admits to not having paid the mortgage on the property in at least 12 months. He bought Liberace's opulent digs in 2006 for $3.7 million with a monthly mortgage payment exceeding $20,000.

Dzvonick cites the much publicized but questionable loophole of having entered into a contract with Washington Mutual, which virtually overnight went out of business and reopened as JPMorgan Chase (after $1.9 billion changed hands). Dzvonick asserts that JPMorgan Chase cannot produce the original loan note. Accordingly - in theory -- the bank is ineligible to collect on the promissory note for the Las Vegas Villa.

Celebrity Foreclosures

Although Liberace is every bit as much as a Las Vegas icon as Wayne Newton or the Ratpack, he already has a museum in his honor. Add to this the complaints of the Las Vegas Villa neighbors, and it is not surprising that there is no movement to save and preserve the Las Vegas Villa in the hands of the current owner.

The late Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch came close to foreclosure in 2008. A last minute deal with Colony Capital saved the property. As reported by the Huffington Post, the default at that time was on a $24.5 million loan.

Disgraced football great Michael Vick's home - situated in close proximity to the brothel once owned by Penthouse centerfold Melissa Wolf -- also went into foreclosure after he went to prison on dog fighting charges and sold the home to developer Wilbur Ray Todd, Jr. Berg Properties reports that the land spanned 15 acres, some of which had been cleared to make it interesting for horse owners.

Sources
Keller Williams. "The Las Vegas Villa" (accessed March 9, 2010)
AOL News. "Liberace's Luxury Villa Is in Foreclosure" (accessed March 9, 2010)
Huffington Post. "Colony Capital Buys Michael Jackson's Loan, Neverland Foreclosure Averted" (accessed March 9, 2010)
Berg Properties. "The latest from the land of foreclosures and controversial sales: Fantasia Barrino's house in NC, former Michael Vick dogfighting home in VA, and T-Boz's house in GA" (accessed March 9, 2010)