- Former NFL star Adrian Peterson owes more than $10 million from an unpaid loan taken out in 2016.
- A Houston judge recently denied a request to sell Peterson’s 2007 BMW to help pay the debt.
- This is the latest development in an ongoing legal battle over Peterson’s assets, including a previously halted auction of his memorabilia.
Former Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson is still more than $10 million in debt stemming from a loan he didn’t pay back after the Vikings declined to exercise an $18 million option on his contract in 2017.
But efforts to collect on that debt hit a snag in court Wednesday, Sept. 24 when a judge in Houston denied a court-appointed receiver’s request to sell one of Peterson’s cars, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The court-appointed receiver, Robert Berleth, had petitioned the court for permission to sell Peterson’s 2007 BMW to help satisfy the judgment against Peterson. In response, Peterson fought back and won a ruling in court on Wednesday that denies Berleth’s attempt to do that. Peterson stated the car was seized from his home without his permission.
“My 2007 BMW… was parked outside my home and was taken from the property by the Receiver (Berleth) in this matter, or individuals under his direction, while I was not home,” Peterson said in a declaration filed in Houston Sept. 22. “I did not agree to its seizure, nor was I asked at the time whether I wanted to designate it as exempt. I was not even aware it had been taken until I returned home.”
Judge Erica Hughes denied Berleth’s motion to sell the property, which Berleth said was turned over by Peterson in 2022. The law gives Peterson some protection against debt collection, such as up to $100,000 worth of personal property. Peterson, 40, earned more than $100 million in his NFL career from 2007 to 2021.
What is going on here with Adrian Peterson?
It’s the latest in an ongoing cat-and-mouse game between Peterson and Berleth, the court-appointed receiver who is trying to collect on a court judgment stemming from a $5.2 million loan Peterson took out from a Pennsylvania lending company in October 2016.
An attachment to the promissory note indicated Peterson was seeking an advance on an $18 million contract with the Vikings. But after Peterson injured his knee in September 2016, the Vikings declined to pick up that option in early 2017. Peterson’s earnings fell after that, and he didn’t pay back the loan. He now owes around $11 million to $13 million including interest and attorneys’ fees, according to various court documents filed by Berleth.
Last year, an auction to sell Peterson’s trophies, jerseys and clothing was suspended in Texas as the two sides fought over the property involved.
In court documents filed this week, Peterson’s attorney said that issue is still unresolved and now the court-appointed receiver was seeking to sell a car seized from Peterson under “false pretenses”
The attorney noted that Peterson “has every right to designate the car at issue as exempt.”
The judge sided with Peterson, but the larger debt-collection remains pending. In recent years, Peterson also has faced other legal problems, including with child support, a misdemeanor assault case last year and a drunken-driving arrest in Minnesota in April.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com