NBA star Jimmy Butler is being sued for allegedly failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage and unpaid rent for his Florida home.
First reported by local news station WSVN-TV on Friday, February 28, Butler, 35, is being sued by Florida company Five Star Marketing and Promotions, Inc. for $260,000 in unpaid rent for a luxury home he leased in Miami, per court documents obtained by the outlet.
On top of the money owed in back rent, the Golden State Warriors forward allegedly left behind over $127,000 in property damages. This news comes after Butler was traded from the Miami Heat to the San Francisco-based Warriors in February.
Five Star Marketing, which owns the Miami property in question, filed the civil lawsuit against Butler in the 11th Circuit Court in Florida last week, alleging that the NBA star failed to pay two months of rent for his Miami property, amounting to $130,000 per month.
The company claimed Butler remained in the house even after his two-year lease had ended in August 2024. The suit also alleged Butler changed the locks to the home and refused to give the keys to the property manager, which kept maintenance workers from entering and maintaining the property.
Among the damages listed in the lawsuit was a failure to maintain the swimming pool, causing algae growth, as well as the air conditioning system on the property. The latter caused an “extensive amount of mold damage” throughout the property and now, per the court documents, requires replacements of both the hardwood floors and ceilings.
Five Star Marketing and Promotions Inc. claims in its lawsuit that the company “has suffered damages in the principal amount of $387,282” and is therefore seeking a payment from Butler of $257,282, as well as the right to keep his security deposit of $130,000.
According to Realtor.com, the property was built in 2016 and is valued at around $10 million, consisting of five bedrooms, six bathrooms and a four-car garage. It sold in 2021 for $7.1 million.
Butler has not publicly commented on the lawsuit. Us Weekly reached out to reps for both Butler and the Golden State Warriors for comment.
Before his trade to the Warriors, Butler spent the majority of the current NBA season feuding with the Heat, which had suspended him three different times earlier this year, costing him around $5 million. The Heat agreed to trade him to the Warriors on February 5. Butler signed a two-year contract with the Warriors reportedly worth $121 million.
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