OT: JLS now $40.7 million in debt
Really have to wonder if things can get much worse for the guy.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:25 PM ^
I think it's time to leave the guy alone with this. It's a sad, private matter, and as funny as JLS can be, this doesn't feel like the right place to poke at him.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
I'm not trying to poke fun, but its just a really bad situation for the guy. I genuinely feel terrible for him, and its the kind of thing you wouldn't wish on a worst enemy.
October 4th, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^
except for the people that he owes forty million fucking dollars to.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^
Jebus... I think it's time to stop making fun of this guy. He's had the worst month ever.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^
Sad.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^
I'm a dick
October 4th, 2012 at 1:31 PM ^
Look out, drunk unicorn! That scarecrow is going to stick a fish up your butt!
October 4th, 2012 at 1:58 PM ^
Another instance, where 5 pts just isn't enough.
October 4th, 2012 at 3:01 PM ^
comment but with an anorexic snowman.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:32 PM ^
Poor John L. I iz sad for him
October 4th, 2012 at 1:32 PM ^
the newly-departed Miami AD.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
I think this is where it stops being funny, and starts being sad. I feel for the guy.
October 4th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 2:30 PM ^
As long as you don't live in a community property state, her debts die with her (as long as you don't co-sign or guarantee, etc.).
October 4th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^
Nobody can deficit spend like America. Fuck Yeah!
October 4th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
I hope he can get out from under this and at least have a little something for retirement.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:40 PM ^
I don't see how the extra $15 million does anything to the sadness of the story.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:42 PM ^
Does it really matter? He's filing bankruptcy so most of that debt will be extinguished. Of course the 1%'ers (and you gd well know Dave Brandon was behind it) changed the bankruptcy laws a few years ago, so I could be wrong.
But really all he's doing is updating the amount owed in court documents.
October 4th, 2012 at 2:47 PM ^
If this was sarcasm, ignore my post
October 4th, 2012 at 3:13 PM ^
s/ was assumed on my part
October 4th, 2012 at 2:08 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 5:29 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 2:16 PM ^
How exactly does someone spend that much money? We are talking about someone who has been probably made about 10-15 million in his lifetime too, so thats 55 million dollars.
I mean, you could buy a mansion, vacation homes, multiple luxury cars, and still be well under 20 million. What exactly is going on here?
October 4th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
It isn't too surprising... An unsophisticated guy making significant investments, then doubling down in order to stem losses with, as it turns out, more losses.
[Amended bankruptcy filing and more detailed article below.]
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2012/10/04/john-l-smith-bankruptcy-arkansas/1612345/
October 4th, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^
Took a quick look and he seems to be living reasonably (not modestly, but probably on par with someone of his salary, i.e., he lists his average monthly expenses as $7,443, including $545 rent and $1800 for food; his car is provided by the school).
October 4th, 2012 at 6:36 PM ^
that's a ridiculous rent-to-non-essentials ratio
October 4th, 2012 at 2:29 PM ^
From what I've read on it, he made some real estate investments that didn't pan out. He probably only put down a portion of the total cost of the loan, but he's still on the hook for the whole loan. It's like a house - you buy a million dollar house with only 100k of your own money, the other 900k is a loan, but if you go bankrupt it is a 900k liability. What he did is he did this over and over, taking out loans to buy investment properties and then the investments failed, leaving him on the hook for the whole loan that he had anticipated paying back with the profits from the investment.
He didn't blow this on cars or drugs, he just made some really poor investments and is now on the hook for them.
October 4th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^
Agree. But then again some people are addicted to speculative investing, just like they are to gambling or drugs.
Bankruptcy isn't sinful or shameful; it's merely a path out of insolvency. That being said, in America, we don't have noble titles like Duke or Count or Viscount, but rather, we have monetary titles, such as millionaire, multi-millionaire or billionaire.
In that sense, "millionaire" or "multi-millionaire" John L. Smith will now become "bankrupt" John L. Smith.
The one good thing is that it's not permanent, and you can go from, for example, "twice bankrupt" Donald Trump to "multi-millionaire" Donald Trump during the course of a lifetime.
October 4th, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
Wouldn't it be strange to make all of those mortages recourse?
October 4th, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^
Sorry to burst your bubble, but in many states, non-recourse mortgages will become recourse loans after a foreclosure.
For example, you buy a house for 500k (100k down and 400k mortgage). The market tanks and you foreclose on your house. Bank sells it for 300k. The difference between the mortgage and what the bank recovered (i.e., 400k - 300k = 100k) is the "deficiency."
Therefore, you may be personally liable for the 100k deficiency as a recourse loan.
[Just my two cents and not legal advice]
October 4th, 2012 at 10:29 PM ^
Not that you would care much at this point. Presumably you're under water either way or you wouldn't be filing.
In a bankrtupcy i's just a question of the bank's rights vis a vis the other creditors as they divy up the financial carcass. They can get a piece of the deficiency from whatever is left to the unsecured creditors.
October 4th, 2012 at 7:05 PM ^
In many states, a cash-out refinance of a non-recourse mortgage turns it into a recourse loan.
And cash-out refinances were pretty common during the bubble.
October 4th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 2:44 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 2:30 PM ^
seriously have never have sent out "fast field goal." It looks like things started going down hill for him right at that specific moment.
October 4th, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^
Broke 2: Coaches.
Really, even if you're not going to be paying it back, any day you find out you owe an extra $15 million can't be considered a good one.
October 4th, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^
October 4th, 2012 at 3:16 PM ^
since the last posting, or is this the last posting? I'm not great with figures.
October 4th, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^
If you are going to be a screw-up, you might as well be a major screw-up. Anyone can file bankruptcy, but it takes a world class idiot to get to $40 million in the hole.
Congrats to JLS for finally finding something at which he is among the elite.
October 4th, 2012 at 5:36 PM ^
Leveraged his ass off to invest in a new "upscale development" (aren't they always?) just as the market was reaching its peak, but then everything cratered and he didn't have nearly the capital to cover his debt exposure.
If he'd just kept his money in the goddamn bank instead, and then started investing in stocks conservatively in 2009, he'd be in pretty good shape. But like so many coaches and athletes, they're burning with the desire to double or triple their money as soon as possible, and it never occurs to them that investing in speculative projects in an overheated market is gambling, pure and simple.
Speaking of athletes getting in over their heads in business ventures:
October 4th, 2012 at 5:44 PM ^
It's gambling on the level of the individual, but the banks are gambling too, of course
October 4th, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^
As a Yankees fan, I hope the Steinbrenner's buy the sock at auction and burn the fucking thing.
October 5th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
A safety question: is red food coloring flammable?
October 4th, 2012 at 5:41 PM ^
JLS needs to make a deal with the devil
October 4th, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^
I think it's time for this
October 4th, 2012 at 7:43 PM ^
Honest to shit..Who were his creditors? Holy Shit
October 4th, 2012 at 9:27 PM ^
The list is here (see Schedule F, starting on page 13):
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/johnlsmithamended.pdf
It's basically the development company, all the banks they borrowed from, and all his business partners who co-guaranteed the debt.
It's maybe worth pointing out that many of these numbers being added to get to the $40.7 million are just ballpark figures, and sometimes not even that. He doesn't actually know how much he owes; just that it's a whole lot more than he has.
October 6th, 2012 at 11:04 AM ^
He should have invested in some burger joints