For the second time this month, the disgraced former comedian and actor Bill Cosby is facing foreclosure at an Upper East Side property — this time, at a six-story townhouse he owns at 18 E. 71st St.
First Foundation Bank filed a lawsuit on Saturday in Manhattan Supreme Court against the 87-year-old and his wife, Camille, alleging that they have defaulted on a $17.5 million loan on the 12,000-square-foot building. Cosby purchased the townhouse in 1987 for a reported $6.2 million, and used it as a primary residence.
Earlier this month, another bank filed a foreclosure suit against Cosby over his four-story townhome 10 blocks south at 243 E. 61st St. The Cosbys reportedly used that building as a second home, and as a residence for their son Ennis before he was murdered in a failed robbery in Los Angeles in 1997.
According to the latest suit, Cosby took out a $12.25 million loan on the East 71st Street home in 2010 from Missouri-based CitiMortgage, followed by a $5.25 million loan from Texas-based First Foundation in 2014. The debt was later combined into a single loan worth $17.5 million — but the Cosbys have failed to make any payments on it since June 1, 2024, the suit alleges.
In a Nov. 8 letter, an attorney for First Foundation Bank warned Bill and Camille Cosby that they owed $791,500 in principal, interest and late fees, plus attorney’s fees. The Cosbys had previously defaulted on the loan in 2023 before finally paying more than $500,000 in October of that year, according to the letter.
The 71st Street townhouse sits between Fifth and Madison avenues — directly across the street from the mansion formerly owned by financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Cosby has faced mounting legal bills in recent years after being accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women, all of which he has denied. Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in Pennsylvania in 2018 but had his conviction overturned by the state’s highest court in 2021.
Page Six reported in 2017 that Cosby was seeking a $30 million loan against the 71st Street townhouse to help cover his legal costs.
Cosby has not listed any attorneys on file for either of his two foreclosure cases. Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney who has represented Cosby in his Pennsylvania sexual assault appeal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the foreclosure.
