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

Retired baseball player-turned-high-profile-businessman Lenny Dykstra, whose eight-bedroom mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif. had been on the market for $25,000,000 but no longer is publicly listed, appears to be the latest in a long line of celebrities facing foreclosure.

Many have written about the apparent foreclosure facing the retired ballplayer — although no one yet has actually gotten a comment from Dykstra himself. The New York Post’s Chuck Bennett broke the story on April 6 of Dykstra’s financial troubles, including a notice of default on March 18 of his $12 million mortgage. Luxist’s prolific Deidre Woollard subsequently penned a post (http://www.luxist.com/2009/04/09/lenny-dykstra-facing-foreclosure/) 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 foreclosure; somewhat unusual (unprecedented, actually) for a writer of the Times’ “Hot Property” column was that Beale actually acknowledged that (and linked to!) a blog — Zillow — had previously written on Dykstra’s troubles.

We had written back on June 8, 2008 about Dykstra’s listing of his mansion for $24,950,000. Since that time, Dykstra weirdly has slashed the asking price of his 6.69-acre estate down to $16,500,000, and then later jacked it back up to $25,000,000. It’s no longer on the market.

Dykstra purchased the mansion in 2006 from hockey great Wayne Gretzky for $18,500,000.

Features at Dykstra’s compound include a main, neo-Georgian-style mansion that was built in 2002 and designed by Richard Landry (listing information calls the mansion 12,713 square feet, while public records tab it at 12,360 square feet), a guesthouse, a carriage house, views of the Sherwood Country Club and Lake Sherwood itself, a pool and a tennis court, according to listing information. Other features in the mansion include seven and a half baths, a paneled study, a billiards room, a screening room, outdoor verandas, and a fitness facility, according to listing information.

We’ll keep you posted on whether Dykstra is able to dig his way out of this mess.

In the meantime, here’s a review of other celebs who have been entangled in foreclosure actions:

–Retired ballplayer Jose Canseco, who was foreclosed out of his house at 18011 Karen Drive in Los Angeles’ Encino area;

–Ed McMahon, who has faced foreclosure of his mansion in the Summit neighborhood in the Beverly Hills, Calif. Post Office but apparently has staved it off;

–Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC, whose place in Duluth, Ga. was headed to foreclosure;

–”American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino, who was facing foreclosure of one of her two homes in Charlotte, N.C. but appears to have satisfied her creditors;

–Deborah Gibson, whose two-bedroom, 1,733-square-foot house in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills area was facing the threat of foreclosure as she listed it for $995,000 — far below her $1,275,000 purchase price in 2005 — and since has been reduced to its current asking price of $930,000;

–Wyclef Jean, who stopped making payments on renovations to a mansion at 5801 Pine Tree Drive in Miami, Fla. that was under construction and that he had co-owned with some friends. Jean watched the mansion get foreclosed late last year;

–Boxer Evander Holyfield, whose 104-room mansion at 794 Evander Holyfield Highway in Fayette County, Ga. was under foreclosure last June but apparently saved just before it went up for auction;

–Former basketball star Latrell Sprewell, whose house at 850 W. Dean Road in River Hills, Wisc. (near Milwaukee) was foreclosed last year;

–Aretha Franklin, whose mansion in Detroit headed to foreclosure last year because of minimal unpaid taxes but remained in her hands as she straightened out the tax situation.

–And of course, Michael Jackson and his Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., where the foreclosure proceedings and transfer of ownership have been well-documented.

Are we missing anyone else?

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