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Megan Fox has agreed to settle a three-year court battle against Brad Pitt’s longtime manager over a home Fox purchased that she claims was mired by toxic mold issues and left her enduring "chronic migraines" and "constant stress."
Fox, 35, purchased the $3.3 million "moldy mansion" in the famed Malibu area of Los Angeles from Cynthia Pett-Dante in May 2016. However, before long the actress discovered that the property was riddled with a number of issues, including mold and leaks, which Fox told the court required repairs and remediation to the tune of at least $500,000, according to a filing obtained by the Daily Mail.
Some two years after she bought the mansion, Fox filed a complaint against Pett-Dante and maintained in the $5 million lawsuit that the home had created serious health issues for her.
"I knew there was mold. I had been exposed to mold before, and I was getting chronic headaches and having the same health issues," she said. "Chronic migraines, like I mentioned, but it's more of an endocrine system issue, where the constant stress or the excessive stress activates the adrenal glands, which sets off the pituitary and the thyroid, and for me that acts in an overactive thyroid."
Megan Fox has agreed to settle a three-year court battle against Brad Pitt’s longtime manager over a home Fox purchased that she claims was mired by toxic mold issues which left Fox enduring ‘chronic migraines’ and ‘constant stress.’ (Kevin Mazur/AMA2020/Getty Images for dcp)
Fox said in her declaration that her body "metabolizes itself" adding, "I eat my own muscle proteins. I lose a lot of weight. I get very sick. So it's a cycle that's stress-induced, and that's what Dr. Burns treats… [Bon Kim] that's a different type of medicine, so it's not phrased the same way, but it's again just treating symptoms of stress."
Fox also claimed that the home had water damage and came with a "mini-zoo" that Pett-Dante allegedly built without a permit.
"She had done a lot of work to the backyard, upwards of $800,000 of work in the yard, to keep the animals because she rescues animals," the court records read. "She had a bull when I saw the house. She had goats, llamas, chickens, pigs, and all of that work had been done on that slope, and I had been led to believe that it was legal, and that that was usable property."
However, as the many courts around the country are bursting at the seams with unheard court filings as they play catch-up amid the pandemic, the judge presiding over the matter, David Soleto, came down with a ruling in an order filed earlier this month that Pett-Dante could review the judgment summary.
The move ended up being the elixir that ultimately led to the settlement she and Fox agreed upon. According to the Daily Mail, Pett-Dante offered up a $100,000 compromise deal under the California civil code 998, which states that either party can propose an arbitration settlement to the other in order to avoid going to trial.
Now, it appears the "Transformers" actress has taken the bait and has agreed to have the case dismissed with prejudice in which Fox would refrain from appealing the ruling.
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Sixteen others involved in the transaction are also named in the lawsuit, according to the Daily Mail.
Court documents obtained by the U.K. publication show the settlement accepted by Fox to be one-fiftieth of the amount she was demanding, as the judge sided with Pett-Dante, absolving her of any blame in the transaction, and said Fox simply went against the advice of her real estate lawyer Joseph D'Onofrio, who called it a "nightmarish, ill-advised and risky" purchase.
Megan Fox, estranged husband Brian Austin Green and their three children, moved out of the ‘moldy’ Malibu home in October 2017. (Getty Images)
Fox admitted that she hadn’t read pertinent emails or inspection reports that would have made her privy to the alleged issues plaguing the home.
The mother of three was probed during testimony about whether or not she had read any of the literature sent her way pertaining to the home.
"[No], because I pay other people to read them and tell me what's in them and advise me on what I should do or not do," Fox said, according to documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
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She stressed that she essentially pushed the sale through because it was the only Malibu home in her price range and she wanted the children to attend its school district.
"Well, for me it's hazy. I just had a baby. So I was concentrating on that," Fox told the court of the remediation estimate. "I remember that the estimate came in very high. We didn't have that kind of money sitting around where I could fix it and be OK."
Some two years after she bought the mansion, Fox filed a complaint against Cynthia Pett-Dante and maintained in the $5 million lawsuit that the home had created serious health issues for her. (Reuters)
Fox added: "So there were a lot of discussions about me needing going back to work pretty quickly after having the baby, in case I was going to have to fix this. I don't recall exactly. It was high. I believe the first estimate was high. Upwards of $500,000."
Pett-Dante's legal team stated in court docs: "[Fox's] own lawyer did not believe Plaintiffs should purchase the Property and described the Property as 'nightmarish' in certain respects and had a 'cavalcade of deficiencies.'"
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Continued the declaration: "Despite those warnings, Plaintiffs removed their contingencies and agreed to move forward with their purchase of the Property with knowledge that there were non-permitted structures, mold, and septic tanks issues on the Property."
"Green did not read any of the reports, documents, and/or disclosures," it adds. "Thus, she lacks knowledge as to what was actually disclosed to her and her representatives during the purchase of the Property."
In 2014, Fox purchased a home in nearby Toluca Lake that once belonged to Bing Crosby for $3.35 million.
As of now, she rents a home in nearby Calabasas with her three children from her marriage to actor Brian Austin Green for $15,000 per month. (Reuters)
She claimed to the court that after buying the four-bedroom, six-bathroom spread, she incurred money issues and later had to sell the property for $2.6 million at a $735,000 loss plus renovation costs due to an interior designer damaging the home while she was away filming.
"We experienced an unfortunate situation over the summer with a designer who put us in a very bad position with a property we were building, and we ended up losing money on that house. The one I bought in Toluca Lake," Fox lamented in her testimony.
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"I gave him a budget to remodel the house, and I went out of town, and he spent the entire budget over the course of how long I was gone filming and the house had just been taken down to studs and there was no house, and the budget was gone."
Fox also said the home suffered greatly in the November 2018 Malibu fires and added that water runs down a hillside only to rest directly underneath the property.
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As of now, she rents a home in nearby Calabasas with her three children from her marriage to actor Brian Austin Green for $15,000 per month.
An attorney for Fox did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
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