The nation’s housing market and mortgage woes continue to swell.

These disturbing trends have left everyone - CEOs, the Federal Reserve, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and so many more - wondering how to avert an escalating crisis that threatens the very fabric of our economy.

Like so many Americans, Michael Jackson has been hampered in recent months by rising interest rates and increasing house payments. It’s tragic.

The Associated Press reports that the self-proclaimed King of Pop’s famed Neverland Ranch may soon be hitting the auction block.

The 2,500-acre Santa Barbara, Calif., estate will be up for sale if Jacko doesn’t pay $24 million in back California home loan payments.

Even Michael Jackson can’t escape the nation’s credit crunch.

Of course, this is a man who burns through money 10 times faster than Britney Spears, which is saying something. Could have a little to do with it.

Financial Title Co. filed the notice of trustee’s sale in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Tuesday. An auction date is set for March 19.

To think, the location of so many sordid trysts with minors could be all yours. Also up for grabs - the home’s furnishings and items on the property.

If Neverland Ranch hits the auction block, it could carry a price tag even higher than the $24 million owed, due to interest and other costs.

Rumors have been surfacing months that Michael Jackson’s Neverland is in foreclosure or on the brink, but TMZ has just reported the first real concrete evidence that the crazy one’s home is about to be owned by a bank.

The father of Prince Michael Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II (a.k.a. Blanket) received the foreclosure and Notice of Default from Santa Barbara County.

According to reports, Michael Jackson is, as of October, delinquent $23,212,963 on a $23,000,000 mortgage loan. That negative amortization will get you every time.

Notice of Defaults in California typically go out when a homeowner misses their third payment. After 30 days, the homeowner is issued a foreclosure notice. According to documents, it appears that the King of Pop is now $212,963 delinquent on the California home loan’s very small principal of $23 million.

A rep for Michael Jackson, who has been reported as being in poor health, on top of suffering from big financial problems, did not return calls for comment.

And believe it or not, we’re not talking about insanity or the side-effects of dozens of plastic surgery procedures this time.

Who would have guessed?

Michael Jackson’s siblings — including Janet Jackson — and parents are so worried about the failing pop star that they’ve sent out an emergency 911 call.

Sources tell Fox News that family members contacted Jackson’s lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, the superstar litigator who got Jackson off (the hook) two years ago in his child molestation trial.

The word from Jacko’s parents and siblings is that they’ve met several times as a family and discussed bringing Mesereau in for an intervention to save Michael.

Mesereau, who did not return calls, is said to be open to finding out what Michael Jackson’s true mental and health status is at this point.

Several celebrity news sites report that if the attorney doesn’t like what he sees, the Jackson clan will ask him to do something legal to save their brother’s life.

Michael Jackson, according to insiders, is in perilous health right now. There is talk that his liver is damaged and that he’s been seen vomiting blood.

It’s a chilling picture of what Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have to look forward to in 20-25 years. Lushes.

What has been confirmed is that Jackson — whose penchant for prescription meds and alcohol is well-known — is depressed, alone and getting f*%ked up all the time.

We pray for the safety of his children, Paris Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson I, and Prince Michael Jackson II, a.k.a. Blanket.

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s next, Britney Spears being a decent mother? Or sane?

Who knows anymore. But apparently, Michael Jackson is a good father, claims a publisher who accompanied the pop star and his children to Japan last month.

Jamie Foster Brown chronicled the trip in the current issue of her Sister 2 Sister magazine - and told us that Prince Michael Jackson, 10, Paris, 9, and Prince Michael II (a.k.a Blanket), 5, didn’t have their faces covered when they were indoors.

“They were walking around me, and we were taking pictures without [their trademark veils] - they were very loose. But when they did go outside, they put the scarves around the children’s faces.

“I just noticed how nice the kids were. They’re not privileged at all. They have a lot of fun with [Michael]. They’re intelligent, extremely well-spoken. They like to play jokes.”

It was one such moment when one of the kids was fooling around that Michael Jackson reprimanded him, thinking he’d been rude to Brown.

“That was his misunderstanding,” she told us.

“He wasn’t raised around people ‘playing the dozens,’ using slang or stuff like that. He doesn’t know about kids showing off - you don’t take that badly. He just seemed to be a good parent. More so than most of us!”

Jackson’s mother, Katharine Jackson, was also on the Japan trip, during which Disneyland Tokyo closed the whole park down for them. The consensus is that Jackson is doing well lately. If that’s possible.

A $3,500-per-person dinner with the singer sold out, and devoted fans still felt the thrill. “People were falling down. People were fainting,” Brown attests.

So the sight of Michael Jackson makes Japanese fans drop harder than an emaciated Nicole Richie at Hyde? Wow, you learn something every day.

What’s freakier than a Janice Dickinson crotch shot?

How about Michael Jackson doing just about anything!

With armed security and entourage in tow, Mr. Neverland and his hooded, veiled freak show children landed at LAX Wednesday, after their circus barnstorming tour of Japan and England.

Debbie Rowe and the mother ship were nowhere to be found, but Prince Michael Jackson, Paris Jackson and Prince Michael II, a.k.a. Blanket, followed their freaky (King of?) Pop through security en route to ground transportation…. 

PHOTO CREDITS: Bauer-Griffin

The gang allegedly flew commercial. Suckers. Gone are the days of private jets. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Wonder if they saw Britney Spears over at the baggage claim area.

Too bad Japan couldn’t keep MJ over there, since they adore him so much. We’re guessing America wouldn’t mind. Heck, we could throw in John Mayer as a bonus.

Stop the presses. And lock your doors.

Michael Jackson is back in the United States of America, and no one seems to know exactly where. Perhaps even Michael himself.

Yes, the one-time King of Pop could be right around the corner from you. But most likely he’s not. You would probably have noticed the hordes of people shrieking in abject terror by now.

You never know, though, and Jackson refused to reveal his whereabouts in a call with the Associated Press yesterday, except to say that he’s back in the U.S. Come on, America. Pick it up. Can’t we keep people like Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith out after they leave voluntarily?

For security reasons, said Wacko Jacko’s representative, he wouldn’t say where in the land of the free he is. But we’re guessing it’s probably not his freak-show ranch.

Recently, the regularly indicted, never convicted child molester has been spotted in Georgia (for James Brown’s funeral) Las Vegas (to spend lots of money he thinks he has) and other locations. In March, Jackson is going to Japan, where humans will for some reason pay $3,300 apiece just to shake his hand.

Do they not know where that diseased, gloved hand has been? At the very least, it’s been all over his crazy ex-wife - and heaven only knows where else.

Even more bizarrely, during the call, a reporter was allowed only one question to Jackson, which was, “How are you?”

Jackson’s response: “I’m fine, thank you.”

Wow. What a riveting exchange. Let’s give this journalist a Pulitzer. While we’re at it, let’s give Brooke Hogan a Grammy and annoint Britney Spears mother of the year.

Strangely enough, it’s not the sort of fire that accompanies accusations of touching little boys.

Instead, Neverland Ranch - the well-known abode of Michael Jackson - was threatened by a wildfire Friday.

The blaze burned 40 acres on the ranch and came within a quarter of a mile of the main house. Somewhere, despite their foreclosure problems, Michael’s parents were pleased they were far away.

One hundred firefighters battled the fire, with an assist from water-dropping choppers.

Jackson, of course, is disgusting and crazy. He’s also been out of the country for months, setting up residence in Bahrain.

There was no word on the origin or cause of the fire - but Lindsay Lohan’s crotch is being brought in for questioning.

Being the mother or father of Michael Jackson would be difficult under any circumstances. Throw possible foreclosure into the picture, however, and we’re not sure how the Jackos cope.

The beleaguered King of Crazy Pop has received yet another notice of pending default on the $7 million home where Joe and Katherine Jackson live after he missed recent mortgage payments.

According to FOX News’ Roger Friedman, Jacko was once again late paying the bill on his parents’ Encino, Calif. home (known as “Hayvenhurst,;” why do the Jacksons all name their abodes?). Therefore, authorities went to the house and placed a foreclosure notice on the front gates, as Jackson is preparing for a move to Europe.

In the past, Janet Jackson bailed her brother when their folks’ house was in jeopardy - but this time, it appears the screwed up man himself got the payments in on time. Just barely. But still legally.

You know, unlike the way he touches little boys.

Good. Now Michael Jackson can fully focus on his crazy ex-wife.

The King of Pop/Pedaphile’s civil trial came to an end yesterday, as a split jury awarded a former adviser $900,000 - far less than he claimed in the money dispute - and subsequently awarded the pop star $200,000 in his cross-complaint.

F. Marc Schaffel originally sued Jacko for $3.8 million, but his claims were later reduced and his attorney ultimately asked the jury for $1.4 million in unpaid loans and expenses before deliberations began Thursday.

In a civil suit, only nine of the 12 jurors have to agree on a verdict. So when one question from the panel was, “Do all 12 have to be accounted for, or can some abstain?” questions arose about the competency of those chosen for this duty

Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor sent the jurors a message that some could abstain from voting. She didn’t comment on how weird Jackson continues to look, however.

The jury also asked to hear the court reporter read back testimony from Schaffel on how much he claimed was due to him from his business relationship with Jackson. In the end, the aforementioned amounts were agreed upon and Jackson can now move far, far away freely.

Thank goodness.

Debbie Rowe needs a payday loan.

The insane woman that not only married Michael Jackson, but fathered his children (ewww!) claims the singer owes her a fortune. She says she “sits on the brink of bankruptcy.

Our friends at TMZ.com obtained a motion filed by Rowe, in which she asks a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to order Jackson to pay her $50,000 in living expenses for the next four months. Ha! Like Jacko can afford that!

In the documents, Rowe states she needs the money to continue her fight for the custody of the couple’s two children. An extrar $195,000 is also being requested for legal fees; if Rowe doesn’t receive the check to pay her lawyers, she’ll have to represent herself in the custody battle - which would provide The Gossip with endless entertaining material.

Jackson and Rowe divorced in 1999. Under the terms of that agreement, the woman who’s apparently seen this freak naked was to receive $1 million up front, along with an additional $1 million a year for the next three years. After that, Rowe was to receive $750,000 a year for the next six years. The total take: $8.5 million.

Shockingly - as Jackson faces trial after trial - Rowe claims her former husband hasn’t lived up to the agreement.

The settlement agreement provides a peek into Jackson’s lavish lifestyle. He owns:

• A Rolls Royce limousine
• Four tractors
• Numerous firetrucks
• Countless car-shaped bunk beds, replete with built-in children

We may have made the last one up. But Rowe is also hoping to alter her visitation agreement in order to spend more time with the doomed offspring of her and Jackson.