Poor Mischa Barton in Madrid
Actress Mischa Barton attends the photocall of the New Collection of Cristian Lay in Madrid, Spain on February 1, 2010.
After spending time in a psychiatric unit and her latest TV show was cancelled last year, Mischa Barton was probably hoping to start 2010 with a clean slate.
But just weeks into the new decade, the former O.C. star has run into trouble with her landlord suing her over unpaid rent.
Letting agency MRA Realties Inc claim the actress owes three months of unpaid rent on her apartment in the trendy TriBeCa area of New York. The 23-year-old has owned a house in Los Angeles for several years, but started renting her $7,000-a-month apartment last autumn after she relocated to Manhattan to film The Beautiful Life. However the show, about a group of models living and working in the Big Apple, was cancelled in late September after just two episodes were broadcast.
MRA alleges Barton has rebuffed any attempts to collect rent over the past three months after signing a one year lease in September. In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, the agency asks for Barton to pay back $21,300 in rent and legal fees. MRA's lawyer Joseph Burden said: 'She lived there for September and October, then moved out and quit paying.'
Despite the show being pulled, London-born Barton - who was raised in New York - has continued to reside in the city. After The Beautiful Life was cancelled, Barton spent the rest of last year hanging out with friends and partying in New York.
She was finally spotted back at work earlier this week when she filmed an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Barton plays a pregnant prostitute called Gladys who turns to Detective Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, for help in a life-or-death decision.
