Kevin Spacey won’t leave Baltimore mansion, buyer says
Tim Prudente
8/14/2024 11:41 a.m. EDT
A Bethesda real estate investor nabbed Kevin Spacey’s waterfront Baltimore mansion at auction last month for a bargain. Only now he has a problem.
Spacey, he said, has not given up the house.
Investor Sam Asgari said he’s had to negotiate with Spacey’s lawyers to compel the actor to move out.
“Right now, he’s refusing to leave,” Asgari said. “He’s asking for six months to leave the property without paying anything.”
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Asgari anonymously bought the distinctive pier home for $3.24 million at a foreclosure auction on the steps of the Baltimore Circuit Court. The public sale drew widespread attention, though the buyer’s identity had been a mystery. New court records listed him as Asgari, of Simo Homes LLC.
A biomedical engineer turned real estate investor, Asgari captured attention earlier this year for buying the childhood home of Johns Hopkins in Anne Arundel County. When called Tuesday, Asgari said he has not been able to take possession of Spacey’s house in almost three weeks since the sale. The terms of the auction required him to pay a $100,000 deposit.
In foreclosure auctions, a sale must be ratified, or approved, by the courts before the highest bidder can settle on the property. That process can take weeks. Then the buyer can take further legal action to force an eviction with the help of sheriff’s deputies, but in many cases the previous owner leaves voluntarily.
Edward U. Lee III, an attorney for Spacey, responded briefly by email and denied the claim that the actor refuses to leave.
“The accusation by Mr. Asgari is false,” Lee wrote. He did not comment further.
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The 9,000-square-foot house floats on a pier that stretches into the Patapsco River from Federal Hill. It’s been listed as “Baltimore’s most extraordinary home.”
Asgari said he’s likely to resell the house. His winning bid of $3.24 million was a steep discount from the $5.65 million that Spacey paid seven years ago.
Spacey bought the house while filming the hit Netflix political drama “House of Cards,” and it remained his primary residence after he was fired from the show over allegations of sexual assault. In an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, Spacey broke down when he discussed losing his home.
“I’m not quite sure where I’m going to live now,” he said.
Spacey also revealed that he’s millions of dollars in debt, can’t pay his legal bills and was moving his belongings into storage.
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A debt collection agency filed the foreclosure case against Spacey in April 2022. His attorneys at least twice participated in mediation, but were unable to stave off the sale. His homeowners association also filed a lien against the property for unpaid monthly assessments and fees.
His monthly mortgage payments were $20,230, according to court records, but he fell behind after he was fired from “House of Cards” and was sued in Manhattan for allegedly making a sexual advance on a teenage boy in the 1980s, which the actor denied. Jurors sided with Spacey in the case.
Nine months after that decision, a London jury acquitted Spacey of sexual assault in another case. The actor told jurors that he had been out of work for six years since the first sex abuse allegations came out against him.
A two-episode documentary series about the actor also aired this year and is streaming on Max. “Spacey Unmasked” explores the actor’s behavior going back decades. Spacey fired back publicly online, writing that he had requested the filmmakers “afford me more than 7 days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years and provide me with sufficient details to investigate these matters.”
Movie stars such as Sharon Stone and Liam Neeson have recently spoken out in Spacey’s defense.
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In Baltimore, Spacey has kept a low profile, though he’s occasionally been recognized while walking his dog or dining at the Sagamore Pendry hotel. He once took the stage unannounced to sing at the Keystone Korner jazz club in Baltimore.
