You know it’s a tenant’s market (see main feature) when someone who last year reportedly couldn’t find a place, on account of a bad credit reputation, gets approved for a $65,000 two-week rental. Then again, celebrities are different from you and me: The tenant in question is Aretha Franklin, and the owner is hotelier Ricky Hilton, who presumably knows something about getting guests to pay up. That hefty price brings access to an ocean beach and a private three-acre lawn patrolled by 24-hour guards – security measures surely appreciated by her Fordune neighbors, such as Anna Murdoch and Millennium Partners honcho Chris Jeffries. (Pat Petrillo at Sotheby’s brokered the deal but was unavailable for comment.) Even considering the mushy market, though, Ms. Franklin’s royal status certainly helped her case: Doesn’t the Queen of Soul deserve a palace?
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