Jimmy Butler joins the Golden State Warriors following a multi-team trade between the Heat, Pistons, Jazz, Raptors and Warriors.
A new lawsuit accuses former Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler of leaving a luxury Miami Beach house he'd been renting in disrepair, leading to a costly air conditioner leak and an algae-filled pool.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade County on Wednesday by Five Star Marketing and Promotions, Inc. concerning a house they leased to Butler beginning in August of 2022.
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WATCH HEREThe 5,398-square-foot house on Lakeview Court backs up to a canal with ocean access and features five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a guest house , a pool, a four-car garage, an elevator and a media room.
According to the lease in the lawsuit, Butler had agreed to pay $780,000 annually to lease the house but after the lease expired in August of 2024, he continued living there as a holdover tenant.
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Butler later failed to make $130,000 monthly rent payments in August and September of 2024, the suit claims.
In addition to not paying the rent, Butler caused the property "to fall into complete disrepair due to misuse, neglect and waste," the lawsuit said.
Butler had changed the locks but didn't provide Five Star with a key, and his chief of staff prevented Five Star from accessing the property to perform necessary HVAC maintenance, the suit said.
The suit claims the filter wasn't changed when needed causing condensation lines to be blocked and causing a significant leak in the ceiling, which had to be removed and replaced.
The leak also caused the hardwood floors underneath to buckle and become damaged, resulting in them needing to be replaced, while the moisture from the air conditioning leak also "caused an extensive amount of mold to grow throughout the property," the suit said.
Butler also insisted on hiring his own pool-cleaning people but the pool "was not maintained and became overgrown with algae and other debris" and the pool pumps broke and had to be replaced, the suit claims.
Five Star said the cost of the repairs was over $127,000, but shortly after Five Star sent Butler a letter outlining the damages, he left the property and refused to pay, the suit claims.
Between the damages and the failure to pay rent, Five Star claims $387,000 in damages but said they're entitled to $130,000 security deposit Butler paid, bringing the total damages to about $257,000.
Butler, 35, joined the Heat in 2019 and was an All-Star twice but his time with the team came to a tumultuous end this year after he was suspended multiple times before being traded to the Golden State Warriors.
