A nearly century-old hilltop mansion in Silver Lake has become central to a bankruptcy battle involving fashion entrepreneur Dov Charney and associates of Kanye West.
A judge will decide next month whether to boot the controversial founder of American Apparel and as many as seven other occupants to allow the sale of the Garbutt House at 1809 Apex Avenue, the Los Angeles Times reported. Charney allegedly bars access to the home.
The eight-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate, built in 1928 for eccentric Los Angeles businessman Frank Garbutt, has 360-degree views of the city and a reservoir below. The two-story mansion was made of concrete to survive earthquakes, floods and wildfires.
The judge will hear a government-appointed trustee’s motion to empty the home of residents to prepare it for sale, with proceeds paying creditors to whom Charney owes tens of millions of dollars.
Charney bought the gabled home in 2006 for $4.1 million.
He filed for bankruptcy last year, eight years after he was fired from American Apparel over alleged misconduct related to his treatment of women at the firm. He still owes $20 million to New York-based hedge fund Standard General.
In the bankruptcy filing, Charney listed the Garbutt House as his property and residence.
Brad Krasnoff, the trustee in the case, has asked the court to turn over the Garbutt House from Charney to the estate so the trustee can list the property to pay off Charney’s debts.
Court records show that Charney and seven others live within the hilltop estate, including several former American Apparel employees and close associates of Ye, formerly Kanye West.
They include Milo Yiannopoulos, the right-wing commentator in charge of Ye’s political operations, and Ian Connor, a clothing designer accused by numerous women of sexual assault who is tied to Ye. Charney, Yiannopoulos and Connor were each served in the bankruptcy case.
Charney and his roommates have made it hard to show the house to potential buyers, the trustee in the bankruptcy case claims. The trustee argued that Charney has not cooperated with efforts to show the house in an attempt to sell it.
Neither Charney nor his attorney responded to requests for comment by the Times.
Charney’s attorneys have argued against the turnover motion, saying 17 liens against the property by other people and companies owed money by Charney — including Charney’s uncle and former lawyer — should prevent the trustee from selling it.
They say a sale wouldn’t earn enough money to even pay back the liens on the house, much less the creditors in the bankruptcy proceeding.
But since last summer, Charney has continued to ignore stipulations that would allow for access to what’s known as the Garbutt-Hathaway Estate, according to the trustee. An agent with Sotheby’s told the Times she hasn’t been able to show it.
“Turnover is appropriate in light of what was observed on the trustee’s first and only visit to the property: dogs, cats and the belongings of multiple occupants strewn about throughout the property, including multiple bottles of alcohol and ashtrays with cigarette ends,” wrote the trustee’s attorney in a September filing.
— Dana Bartholomew