More Trouble for Mischa; Landlord Calls Her Deadbeat Renter

Starlet accused of not sending $7,000 monthly checks to cover cost of her Manhattan pad

By Josh Grossberg Jan 21, 2010 11:25 PMTags
Mischa BartonPaul Morigi

The Beautiful Life apparently allows for freeloading.

The saga of Mischa Barton just keeps getting stranger as the former O.C. star is now on the business end of a lawsuit filed by a New York landlord who claims she's a deadbeat renter, failing to keep the checks coming on her $7,000-a-month TriBeCa apartment.

According to the complaint, filed by M.R.A. Realties, Barton has rebuffed the company's attempts to collect three months' worth of rent. M.R.A. is demanding the 23-year-old actress not only cough up the money but also cover the company's legal fees.

Barton does have a separate residence in the Los Angeles area. She signed the lease in Manhattan to work on last season's The Beautiful Life, which the CW quickly canceled. But it's not like she's been AWOL from NYC. She has been in town this week filming a guest role as a hooker on Law &Order: SVU.

A rep for Barton declined to comment on the lawsuit, but did say that she wraps work on SVU tomorrow in time for her 24th birthday and "all's gone off without a hitch"—refuting a report in the New York Daily News that she was repeatedly messing up her lines.

Barton has had some well-publicized struggles since her O.C. glory days, including a DUI bust  and a headline-making meltdown that led to her being hospitalized on an involuntary psychiatric hold.

—Additional reporting by Ashley Fultz

________

Just what the heck is going on with Mischa Barton? Get Chelsea's take here.