LeBron James is reportedly "very concerned" about squatters in his southern California neighborhood who have taken over a $4.3 million home.
The NBA star, 39, bought an extravagant $36.8 million mansion in Beverly Hills in 2022 before tearing it down to build his dream home near the properties of A-listers such as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
Just two doors down from his property, squatters have taken over a home that they are allegedly using to throw cocaine parties. (Related: Homeless camp pops up on a Beverly Hills sidewalk as homelessness spills into the wealthier areas of California.)
The four-bedroom, six-bathroom home at Beverly Grove Place had been on the market sitting empty for months before squatters arrived in October. Just a few yards away from the party house is the site of NBA star LeBron James's new dream home which is currently under construction.
As the Daily Mail previously reported, the squatters have been throwing near-nightly raucous rave parties – and police are powerless to shut them down.
The parties often start after midnight and have resulted in assaults, fires and arrests. At one point, the squatters were even advertising rooms in the 5,857 sq ft home on Booking.com for $300 per night and charged hundreds of party guests $75 entry fees at the gate. They claim that they are valid tenants, though the homeowner and property agent deny any rental agreements exist.
Billionaires Jeff Bezos, Steve Wynn and Ron Burkle all live within half a mile of the home.
Crazy cars and loud music
James' house manager, who asked not to be named, said he had to keep security guards at the NBA star's building site 24/7 in part because of the squatters' parties.
"I've heard from my security team up there about all the crazy cars, crazy parties at night, how we're not able to get into our property sometimes because they're blocking the street with their cars, and just the nuisance at night with the loud music and people floating out to the streets," he said. "It's one of the reasons we have security 24/7. Otherwise, there's no need for me to have security there 24/7 because it's just a construction site."
One neighbor, Rick Rankin, said police were unable to evict the residents because they had obtained driver's licenses with the property address, and even produced a rental agreement, which the property's current listing agent insists is fake.
The pills and other potential evidence of drug use around the house have prompted the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to refer the case to its Narcotics division.
Recent police callouts to the home recorded on the app Citizen include a report of a man in a bucket hat assaulting someone with a metal box on January 13, a battery incident on December 2, and a reported burglary on November 23.
LAPD Senior Lead Officer James Allen has been handling the police investigation. He said the squatters claimed that they were friends of the former owner, and had been invited by him to live in the home.
But he added that the current ownership of the home is uncertain, has been the subject of a bankruptcy court case, and that the home is entering foreclosure. "I guess he left his friends in the house. I guess we can say they're squatters. But they're squatters to the owner that's in foreclosure to the bank," Allen said. "We're working on a plan with the bank to evict the individuals because there's no one at this point to evict them and say they're there illegally. I've submitted it to the City Attorney. I'm citing the home every time we get a radio call for a party. They're using the home outside of its original purpose, illegally."
The mansion itself has a colorful ownership history.
A title report on the property reveals that it was previously owned by hip-hop mogul Damon Dash from 2003 to 2007.
The gated home on Beverly Grove Place was also owned by Dr. Munir Uwaydah, who fled the U.S. in 2013 amid an investigation into the murder of his mistress, Maxim model Juliana Redding, and indictments for a multi-million-dollar health insurance fraud.
Jeff Scapa, a private mortgage lender, told the Daily Mail that he loaned $3.8 million to the current owner, a company called MDRCA Properties LLC. Scapa said a court ruled he could foreclose on the home, but that process was frozen when MDRCA filed for bankruptcy.
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