Von Miller (58) of the Denver Broncos leads his team onto the field to take on the Green Bay Packers before the first half on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
He rushes.
He tackles.
He … forecloses?
Ex-Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller is doing just that on the new owner of his former mansion near the team’s headquarters, public records show.
The buyer, meanwhile, acknowledged to BusinessDen that he hasn’t been making loan payments — but said that’s because Miller didn’t deliver the home in the agreed-upon condition.
Miller played for the Broncos from 2011 to 2021 and is now with the Buffalo Bills. He sold his 19,000-square-foot home at 17819 E. Easter Ave. in Foxfield — a town between Aurora and Parker — for $3.7 million in late 2022, about six months after he put it on the market.
Oluwole Jolaoso, who public records show put down $700,000, or nearly 20 percent, purchased the home. While most homebuyers get a mortgage from a bank or traditional lender, Jolaoso financed the purchase with a $3 million loan from Miller himself, according to Arapahoe County records.
That gave Miller the power to foreclose if terms of the loan repayment plan weren’t met. He initiated the foreclosure process this month, less than a year after the sale.
The loan made in November 2022 came with a 7.5 percent annual interest rate, records show. Jolaoso was to pay $23,125 a month starting in December, and also make an additional $150,000 payment by June of this year, according to the terms.
The loan terms indicate that Miller’s loan was not intended to be a traditional long-term mortgage, but rather a bridge loan. The contract specified that “borrower agrees to use his best efforts to secure alternative financing.” In the case that didn’t happen, the whole balance would be due on Dec. 1, 2023, the terms state.
The foreclosure documents that Miller filed earlier this month list the amount owed as the original $3 million. A foreclosure auction is currently scheduled for Dec. 20. An attorney representing Miller in the proceedings didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Jolaoso, meanwhile, wishes he could just get a refund.
“Take the house back,” he told BusinessDen. “Give me my money back.”
In two phone calls on Wednesday, Jolaoso described his ownership of the Foxfield mansion as trouble from the start. He claimed Miller’s representatives — “I’ve never had a contact with the guy,” he said of Miller himself — failed to make multiple agreed-upon repairs and upgrades prior to closing, like installing a new refrigerator.
The new fridge, and some other changes, were ultimately put in place weeks or months after closing, Jolaoso said. But one key thing hasn’t been fixed. The home is a “smart home,” Jolaoso said, and the Crestron system that controls many components of it has been broken since before the sale.
“There’s no way that they should have sold the house to me in the condition it is,” he said.
Jolaoso, who said he’s a businessman but declined to get into specifics, said he doesn’t live in the home, and bought it planning to rent it to someone for $50,000 a month. But that person backed out — understandably, in Jolaoso’s mind — given the home’s many issues, he claimed.
Through his representatives, Miller has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix the system, Jolaoso said, but the needed part won’t be available for months.
Jolaoso said that’s why he hasn’t been paying what he described as interest-only payments of $24,000 a month. Miller’s representatives agreed to waive the charge for some months, but more recently have been telling him to pay, he said.
“I said, there is no way I’m going to be paying $24,000 interest-only on a house I cannot use,” he said.
The situation impacted his ability to secure alternative financing, Jolaoso said.
Jolaoso said late Wednesday afternoon, after talking to an attorney, that he expected to make several months of payments to stop the foreclosure proceedings. Then, he said, he’d likely head to court to try to recover that money and more, unless he’s able to work out a deal with Miller.
Jolaoso said he’s a “fan” of Miller, but feels wronged by those working for the player.
“He needs a whole new set of people,” Jolaoso said.
