National Football League

George's home to be auctioned off

Published Jun. 2, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The million-dollar home of former Tennessee Titans star Eddie George and his wife Tamara will be auctioned off June 7 — to the surprise of the Georges.

An accountant for the couple tells The Tennessean the Georges have been trying to modify their loan for several months but that they find themselves in the same situation as many American homeowners — stuck with a house no longer worth what was paid for it.

Larry Goodman says he was shocked to learn the auction was set. For the past seven months he has been negotiating with IndyMac Mortgage Services to establish new terms for the Georges' mortgage.

George played nine years in the NFL, rushing for 68 touchdowns and over 10,000 yards.

The Georges stopped making payments several months ago, Good said, because the mortgage company refused to discuss the matter with them because they were current on their payments.

''We're not trying to walk away from anything,'' Goodman said. ''They love living there, it's a great house. Like anybody else who buys an expensive house, it flipped on him.''

Just three weeks ago, Goodman said, he submitted more loan modification paperwork and never received notice that a foreclosure was under way.

Goodman could not discuss the amount of money involved in the sale, but did say that George is financially stable.

The Georges bought the 8,550-square-foot home in a gated community in a suburb of Nashville at the height of the market. The Georges, who have two sons, bought the house in 2007 for more than $1.6 million. It was listed for sale at $1.1 million a few months ago.

York Trustee Services LLC, the Memphis law firm that placed the auction notice, did not return messages.

''I was on the phone (Thursday) with IndyMac and was not told our loan was in immediate foreclosure, nor have we received any additional information from the lender indicating such,'' Goodman said. ''The loan modification process in our country is difficult at best, and this is another example of it.''