VIRGINIA BEACH
At one time, Teddy Riley was the reigning king of R&B and hip-hop. Now he's just another fallen star who owes $1 million.
In a courtroom Friday, two lawyers agreed to seek a buyer for Riley's recording studio in Thalia.
Music history was made there. In the 1990s, Riley produced hit songs in the studio for the likes of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Heavy D, as well as his own group, BLACKstreet. It was a brand-new, state-of-the-art $3 million studio when it opened in 1991.
On Friday, Morris H. Fine, a lawyer for Riley's biggest creditor, said the studio is still functional but out-of-date in today's world of computer recording.
Another lawyer, who represents other creditors, said he hopes to sell the studio as a working business, not just another piece of real estate.
"I'm trying to save this iconic studio for the cultural heritage it represents," said lawyer Richard J. Conrod Sr. "It would be a shame for it to be mowed down or become anything but a recording studio."
For all its prominence, the studio is completely invisible from the street. It is a one-story, windowless building at 4338 Virginia Beach Blvd., near Princess Anne High School. It is hidden behind an AT&T retail store, sharing a parking lot with a veterinary clinic.
A neon sign on the building says: "Future Records Recording Studios."
Selling the studio is not simply a matter of finding the right buyer. Complicating matters is a series of disputed deeds tied to disbarred Virginia Beach lawyer Troy A. Titus.
A lawsuit filed in February 2007 accuses Titus of fraudulently conveying the studio to a company he controlled, then obtaining $475,000 in loans secured by the property. Titus never replied to the accusations, and the case is still pending.
A court hearing was scheduled Friday to resolve the deed dispute. Instead, at the last minute, two lawyers representing Riley's creditors - Fine and Conrod - agreed to settle their differences out of court.
Riley has been dogged by debts and legal problems for years.
In 2002,, Riley filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He emerged from bankruptcy a year later, but that didn't stop his money troubles.
In 2004, the Internal Revenue Service filed a $1 million lien against Riley for unpaid income taxes. In 2006, Riley was forced to sell his house in the ritzy Church Point neighborhood for $1.5 million to pay off federal and city taxes, as well as the home's mortgage.
Last year, the IRS filed another tax lien against Riley for $196,747. And just last month, the state filed a $93,684 income tax lien against Riley.
The studio, too, is mired in debt.
In 2005, Riley borrowed $700,000 against the studio from a local lender, Equitable Relocation Services Inc. Riley defaulted on that loan, and the lender won a $700,000 judgment against him in 2006.
Equitable has been trying to collect the money ever since. The company has filed 22 garnishments against Riley's various bank accounts and assets in the past year. So far, it has collected $261,000.
It's unclear whether selling the studio would be enough to pay the rest of the debt. The property is assessed at $460,000.
Conrod said the studio is worth more as a going business than as real estate. If the studio is sold, Conrod said Riley told him last year that he "will use his influence to bring artists to Virginia Beach."
Riley grew up in New York City, then moved to Virginia Beach around 1990. He moved to Atlanta sometime in the past year or two.
Marc Davis, (757) 222-5131, marc.davis@pilotonline.com
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Not just Rap Artists...
"How to Go Broke Like a Rock Star
By Kimberly Palmer
Posted September 16, 2008
Earlier this year, court documents revealed that Britney Spears doesn't save any of her $737,000 monthly income. Last month, the New York Post reported that photographer Annie Leibovitz racked up some $715,000 in debt, despite her $2 million annual contract with Vanity Fair. Wrestler/celeb Hulk Hogan spends almost twice as much as the $57,000 he earns each month. Dustin Diamond, best known as Screech on the early 1990s series Saved by the Bell, faced foreclosure in 2006, despite royalties from reruns. And more recently, Evander Holyfield, Ed McMahon, Jose Canséco, and Aretha Franklin ran into housing-related money problems of their own, despite being former heavyweight champion, Tonight Show personality, ex-slugger, and Queen of Soul, respectively."
It takes a village...
---dd
Stupid comments
The funny thing is that Teddy's fault was that he didn't do enough work with hip hop. He more or less worked with R&B. He is the King of New Jack swing, a fusion of hip hop sound with R&B. The other problem is very shady business practices and jerking many local artists & producers. You must remember this man helped to start Timbaland & the Neptunes, yet those guys knew when to get out.
Wow
I remember when I was showing coworkers and friends our area that aren't from here I'd point out the studio. Good call on the technology changing, I wonder what kind of multi track hardware they have? DA-88/38? ADATs? 1" or 2" analog tape? Low cost 96khz 24-bit computer interfaces and desktop computers (protools) have killed the stacks of synced up tape machines. Those amounts of back debt are mind boggling, and I doubt the studio will sell as a studio unless perhaps Star Trak steps in and buys it?
no sympathy
You'd think with all the money he made he'd be smart enough to hire somebody unrelated to him and the rap business to manage it. Seems like those associated with Blackstreet have done nothing but run up debts, disappear on the creditors and stick the city of Va. Beach with $$.
Perhaps He Could Become a "Gangsta".
Just shows that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a rap "Artist".