Former Pro Baseball Player Lenny Dykstra Facing Foreclosure
By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | April 15, 2009
Updated (9/4/09): Problems continue to mount for former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Lenny Dykstra. According to Bloomberg News, Dykstra is accused of “…taking goods from his home including a $40,000 French stove two weeks before a bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to oversee his finances.”
Dykstra was “apparently in the process of stripping furnishings, fixtures and equipment from the estate property,” Index Investors said in an Aug. 19 court memorandum, “doubtlessly to fuel his lifestyle at the expense of his creditors.”
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Original post (4/15/09):
Say it ain’t so, Lenny. Almost a year ago, we did a post on former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Lenny Dykstra and the glorious home he owns at 1072 Newbern Ct, Thousand Oaks, CA, which was on the market for $25 million.
It was a dream story about how a scrappy infielder — not Hall of Fame quality, but just a good, tough player — parlayed his so-so sports career into an amazingly successful post-sports career. A 2008 New Yorker article on Dykstra describes him as a day trader who was starting a magazine called The Players Club, an exclusive magazine for pro athletes advising them how to spend their money wisely (here’s a scary first-person account of someone who worked for Dykstra at The Players Club). Dykstra also had a Maybach, a Gulfstream jet and this glorious home in Thousand Oaks that he purchased from hockey star Wayne Gretzky for $18.5 million. All in all, a pretty nice, lucrative life.
Now, the NY Post is reporting that “Lienny Dykstra” is flat-out broke and facing foreclosure. According to the article, “The private-equity firm Index Investors filed foreclosure papers March 11 on Dykstra’s sprawling Thousand Oaks estate…” Also, Washington Mutual filed its own notice of default on his $12 million mortgage on March 18. To top it off, his jet has been impounded.
According to Luxist, the home was on the market last year for $24.95 million and when it didn’t sell, it was lowered to $16.5 million. Now, the list price is back up to $25 million. Sotheby’s International has Dykstra’s listing.
Read about other celebrity foreclosures.
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Celebrity Real Estate, Foreclosures, Sports Star Homes
Comments
15 Comments so far
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jeff on April 15, 2009 2:24 pm
lenny is an idiot as if he was going to start a magazine on how players should spend there money maybe he needs to write a magazine to himself instead!
steve on April 16, 2009 9:52 am
Jeff,
It is their not “there”. Don’t call people idiots and then misuse or misspell words chump.
Manassas VA Homes on April 17, 2009 2:39 pm
What an incredible looking property. In the 1920’s adn 1930’s a lot of upper-end homes had to be used for other purposes. They had to be converted to other uses….multi family homes, rooming houses etc. The buyers for their homes were just around.
Arlington VA Homes on April 26, 2009 4:11 pm
Great looking home.
Loan Modification Zoom on May 6, 2009 2:25 pm
I think that the message that should be taken away from this is not the fact that this guy may be an idiot, but rather that after the years of hard work in becoming a respectable ball-player, as well as being successful after his career, he is more intelligent than you’re average idiot, and that foreclosure can happen to anyone and that no one is completely financially safe during a recession. We all make stupid choices, but personally speaking with homeowners facing foreclosure, it is obvious that the current financial crisis hurts Americans of all walks of life. Even former baseball players :).
jeff Smith on May 8, 2009 11:30 am
Lenny can’t sell the house because of current market conditions .. the replacement value is $25 million. When oil was $150/barrel .. nobody saw the day of $40/oil just a short 9 months ago .. This house will sell for $25 million in the not too distant future but probably not in time to help the Dykstras ..
Melman33 on May 8, 2009 7:42 pm
I only skimmed previous comments, but I see that Dykstra continues to have everyone fooled, just like his steroid-fueled career. Don’t believe me? Then go ahead and drill down into the Internet and see what kind of 2-bit hoodlum he was/is. Not for a minute do I feel empathy, nor compassion for folks of his ilk…
Retired ballplayer Lenny Dykstra getting foreclosed in Thousand Oaks, CA? His mansion, which had been listed for $25M but no longer is on the market, is wanted by the banks on May 17, 2009 12:07 pm
[...] on April 9 about Dykstra’s latest mess. Then, Zillow.com wrote on April 15 on Dykstra’s pending foreclosure. And on May 7, the Los Angeles Times’ Lauren Beale weighed in about Dykstra’s possible [...]
marla on June 5, 2009 3:07 pm
I agree!
Westside Los Angeles: The Ultimate Prime and Stagnant Real Estate Market. Comparing March and May 2009 Data. Gear up for the Foreclosure Storm. $17.5 Million Foreclosures happen when you let WaMu and BofA Play Together. Digging into the Housing Shade of P on July 11, 2009 11:14 pm
[...] given the bankruptcy filing which will now forcibly sort things out. In April it was reported by Zillow that Sotheby’s International had the home listed at $25 million which obviously did not [...]
Chris Wilson on September 4, 2009 11:13 am
I put an offer in just last week. I thought to myself, “Geez, the great Wayne Gretzky use to shower in this tub; and the master bedroom where little Gretz happened- legendary!!”.Ha Ha
Local Advertising on September 11, 2009 5:49 am
I am guessing Lenny perhaps should have got some budgeting advice before wasting and I mean wasting everything he had on “keeping up with the Jones’” wow a $40,000 French stove?? Did it cook magical French food?
beau on September 13, 2009 7:38 pm
i live right next to that house and the gretskys and the dykstras are good freind of mine that house is amazing and even thought wayne gave that house away and lenny is giving it away that house will forever have grate memories in it
LOL I REMBER BREAKINGA WINDOW IN THAT HOUSE CUZ ME AND TRISTIN AKA THE YONGEST GRETSKY SON AND I WERE PLAYING TENNIS ON THE TENNIS COURT
HEHEHEHE LOL
GOOD TIMES GOOD TIMES!!!!!!
Local Advertising on September 19, 2009 5:05 am
Even the jet has been impounded. Wow I guess beau and the youngest Gretsky won’t be playing much tennis n the future. But hey memories are great things and I guess if there are those who can be so fortunate in life to gain such wealth perhaps they can change the way they live and gain wealth in another way? Perhaps a name is enough?
Free Loan Modification Kit on October 1, 2009 4:48 pm
Looks like someone is living a little bit beyond their means…