The brooding dispute between neighbors Jeff Lewis – the star of Bravo’s Flipping OutUgly Betty star reality show, and Ashley Jensen took an ugly turn last week when Lewis was issued a restraining order in their escalating case.
According to the documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Jensen and her husband, Terrance Beesley, are neighbors with Lewis – who is currently renovating his Los Feliz home.
The couple took issue earlier this year with a deck Lewis added to the fixer-upper – which Jensen said encroached on her land.
After the two sides were alerted to the violation, Jensen claims that Lewis offered $10,000 to buy an easement or her land and settle the tiff – and, more importantly, not have to tear down the deck he just finished.
However, after consulting with real estate experts, Jensen said the sliver of property Lewis encroached on was worth $100,000 – and put that as the settlement price – making that one expensive deck.
That’s when things got downright un-neighborly.
Media reports then surfaced that Lewis was unhappy with the new figure and paid a late-night visit to his neighbors’ home with a $30,000 counter offer – that apparently came with threats to publicly trash the couple on the new season of his show if they didn’t accept the offer.
The court issued a temporary restraining order against Lewis last week, ordering him to stay 50 feet away from Jensen’s home and also asking Lewis to remove the deck. The lawsuit also names Lewis’ business partner and reality-show costar, Ryan Brown.
Lewis responded to the lawsuit by saying he and his neighbors “have a simple encroachment dispute that should have been resolved informally.
“Having apparently watched my reality show, they now feel they can exploit my personality to increase their media exposure and their alleged damages.”
Sounds like a simple visit to his attorney’s office could’ve saved Lewis a few headaches and a lot of time and money.
“While the celebrity litigants make this run-of-the-mill boundary dispute more interesting it also underscores the need for property owners to verify property lines before undertaking any construction or landscaping project,” Andrew Morrow, head of KMFM’s Real Estate and Construction Law practice group said.
Lewis is expected to appear in court on the matter of the restraining order on Jan. 9.
