The Queen Might Lose Her Castle

Aretha Franklin could lose her home to tax collectors. The singer says an attorney’s mistake caused her $700,000 mansion in Detroit to slip into foreclosure over $445 in 2005 taxes and late fees.

The Detroit Free Press reports Thursday the Queen of Soul owes a total of $19,192 in back taxes on the property through 2007. She says she plans to pay up and reclaim it by a March 31 deadline.

A spokesman for the Wayne County Treasurer’s office says the foreclosure judgment for $445 was entered earlier this month.

Records show Franklin owes $18,746 in back taxes and fees for the 2006 and 2007 tax years, but foreclosure proceedings on those debts wouldn’t begin until next year.