One of Wimbledonââ¬â¢s most charismatic recent champions has become involved in a different sort of court battle this week. The German star Boris Becker is challenging a recent court decision to uphold ã246,000 of debts the 43 year old is alleged to owe to the gardener at his luxury Majorcan villa.
Becker is being advised by Spanish property lawyers to fight the court ruling on a property that has plagued the tennis champion with problems since he bought it back in 1997.
Overseas property lawyer defending Becker over cost claims
The villa in Arta has been on the market since 2007 and is worth around ã15 million. Becker’s Spanish property lawyer told the court in Palma, Majorca that his estate agent had agreed to take on the cost of maintaining the 65ââ¬âacre grounds until he had sold the property.
Beckerââ¬â¢s lawyers maintain that under an agreement reached with estate agent Matthias Kühn, the outstanding gardening bill can be paid only when the property is sold. However, the agent denied this and said he had no responsibility for the German’s debts.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Becker confirmed there was an ongoing dispute but said he would appeal against the court’s ruling.
He said: “There is a lawsuit and we are fighting it. They wanted more money than they were supposed to get. It is my house and hasn’t been taken.”
Latest in a series of legal problems affecting the villa
The latest court battle is the latest in a series of problems that Becker has encountered with the property. In 2001, he was ordered to demolish half of the luxury property after losing a battle with planning officials and two years later was fined for failing to comply with the ruling.
In October 2010, Becker agreed to pay around ã36,000 to an architect in an out of court settlement while according to reports from newspaper Mallorca Zeitung, a building firm employed to carry out repairs to the property is also claiming more than ã430,000 in unpaid bills.
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