Simpson Faces Home Foreclosure ‘Where Is All The Potential Income That Guy Said I Was Going To Have?’ He Asks

A mortgage company has begun foreclosure proceedings on O.J. Simpson’s Brentwood mansion after he missed $86,000 in payments, and Simpson said Friday he’s not surprised.

“All I know is I don’t have any money,” he said in a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I knew I was going to have to move eventually. I was pretty sure something like this was going to happen.”

Asked when he might have to vacate, he said, “There’s a process here, I’m told, which could take awhile.”

Simpson, who spoke as he was heading out the door to play golf, said his lawyers were dealing with his finances and he was spending his time on the links and caring for his children.

He scoffed at an expert for the other side in his civil trial who said he would make millions from selling his autograph, likeness and memorabilia.

“Where is all the potential income that guy said I was going to have?” Simpson asked. “Now they’re going to see loud and clear that I don’t have it.”

Simpson was acquitted of killing ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in a 1994 knife attack, but a civil jury found him responsible for their deaths and awarded a total of $33.5 million in damages to the families.

In the punitive damage phase of the civil trial, plaintiffs argued that Simpson had the potential to earn $25 million off his merchandise and personal appearances.

Asked Friday if he had been approached with any offers, Simpson said, “No. I haven’t been looking and they haven’t been asking.”

Simpson said he realizes his financial future is grim and he could lose his home.

“But I’m not sitting in the house depressed about it,” he said. “I know the Lord is on my side and I’m going to be the big winner.”

Documents filed this week with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s office show Simpson owes $86,305.62 in back mortgage payments and his real estate taxes are due Monday.

The document did not list the amount of taxes but a real estate industry source familiar with the records said Simpson had paid all of his property taxes except for the first half of 1996-97 - $7,299.49.

The “notice of default and election to sell under deed of trust” is the first step taken by lending institutions in foreclosure proceedings.

If Simpson does not pay in three months, El Segundo-based mortgage company Hawthorne Savings can sell the property at auction.

But selling Simpson’s home may be a complicated process. Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman’s father, filed a $19 million lien against Simpson’s estate - the amount he was awarded by the civil jury. At least nine other creditors have liens on the property. The list of creditors includes his criminal, civil and personal lawyers as well as Wayne Hughes, guardian for the estate of Simpson’s two small children.

Marjorie Fuller, the lawyer who represented the children in a custody battle between Simpson and his former in-laws, filed two liens in February totaling $192,817.96 for her services in 1996 and 1997.

The value of Simpson’s home has been estimated at $2.3 million to $4 million.