Auction of Simpson’s Mother’s House Is Postponed

The house O.J. Simpson bought for his mother in San Francisco has been taken off the auction block, at least for now, a relative said Thursday.

The auction had been set for Thursday morning, but Simpson and an Orange County lawyer whom he owes $148,000 agreed to postpone any action until Jan. 11.

Simpson’s sister, Shirley Baker, who lives in the house with Eunice Simpson, said the two sides are seeking to satisfy the claim by Orange County attorney Marjorie Fuller without forcing sale of the house.

“We’re just very thankful that we’re where we are now,” said Baker, 57, Eunice Simpson’s oldest daughter. Fuller, she said, “has been very cooperative.”

Fuller represented Simpson’s two children in the custody battle that followed his 1995 acquittal in the deaths of Ronald Lyle Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

“I have no interest in taking the house from his mom,” said Fuller, who placed a lien on the property. “My interest is getting paid what [is owed] me.”

House’s Value Said to Exceed $300,000

San Francisco Supervisor Amos Brown, a pastor and longtime friend of Eunice Simpson, has been leading the effort to raise money, bringing in enough from community members in 10 hours to postpone the auction.

Brown said that the house is valued at more than $300,000 and that, because Eunice Simpson lives on a pension of $1,500 a month, she would have great difficulty finding a similar home in the San Francisco area.

Baker said she is concerned that her mother’s health will be affected by the stress of the situation.

“Yesterday she went to the doctor, and she’s going to have surgery on her bladder,” said Baker, speaking for her mother, who she said is hard of hearing. “She’s trying to keep strong for that. She also has arthritis really bad.”

Baker said that her mother has faith and confidence, though, that she will not have to give up her home.

“She’s doing fine and appreciates that the sale didn’t go through today,” Brown said. “I feel it’s a great statement about how the community rallied around Mrs. Simpson.”

Representatives for Fuller and Simpson negotiated the postponement while would-be bidders waited in a nearby auction room at San Francisco’s City Hall. The terms of the agreement were not made public. City officials did say, however, that the deal does not preclude future sale of the house.

Simpson bought the house in the Bayview district for his mother when he was playing football for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1970s. But he did not transfer the title to her, making it vulnerable to creditors.