Heeeere's Trouble! Subprime Crisis Trips Sidekick

When it emerged that admitted steroid abuser Jose Canseco had lost his Encino, California, home to foreclosure, it was hard to work up much sympathy for the infamous slugger. But Ed McMahon? That's a different story.

ReconTrust, a unit of Countrywide Financial, filed a notice of default back on February 28 with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office on a $4.8 million loan backed by Mr. McMahon's home. At the time, Mr. McMahon was behind $644,000 in payments on the $5.75 million property.

McMahon's loan distress serves as another indicator that the housing slump is not just dragging down lower-income Americans. We are all subprime now.

The number of foreclosures nationwide has been surging; according to RealtyTrac, more than 243,000 U.S. homes received at a foreclosure-related filing in April, up 65 percent from a year ago. In California, a thousand foreclosed homes were auctioned off every business day that month.

McMahon, who is best known as Johnny Carson's sidekick on the Tonight Show and host of Star Search, has more recently been dependent on commercial cameos to make his living -- such as commercials for the American Family Publishing sweepstakes and for Budweiser.

A spokesman, Howard Bragman, told the Wall Street Journal that 85 year-old McMahon had been unable to work since breaking his neck 18 months ago (hence the financial difficulties). Bragman said that his client is in discussions with the mortgage lender, and it is as of yet unclear whether he and his wife will be able to remain in the home.

As if an anemic California real estate market and recent illness weren't enough, McMahon is triply cursed to be living near Britney Spears and the paparazzi carnival that surrounds her. That hasn't exactly been a selling point for his Canyon view mansion, which has been on the market for two years.

"When we were trying to sell the house one time, there were about 100 paparazzi there," the real estate agent for the house, Alex Davis of Alex Davis Estates, told the Los Angeles Times.

Liz Gunnison