Lawyers place lien on Ye's Malibu home: 'If someone wants to buy Kanye's Malibu home, they'll have to deal with us first.'

• Ye, formerly Kanye West, put his Malibu beachfront property up for sale for $53 million.
• Meanwhile, lawyers representing a former caretaker for the home allege the rapper owes unpaid wages.
• The attorneys representing the caretaker filed a lien on the property on Wednesday.

Lawyers representing a former caretaker of Ye's beachfront property in Malibu, California, filed a lien on the home on Monday following reports that the rapper put the property up for sale for $53 million, according to records shared with Business Insider.

In September, Tony Saxon, the former caretaker and project manager who was hired by Ye in 2021 to complete the home's construction, filed a lawsuit against the artist, claiming poor and dangerous working conditions. The lawsuit also alleged that Ye fired Saxon after raising concerns about some of the artist's demands and still had yet to pay Saxon's wages.

In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ye was selling the Malibu property for $53 million. The report stated that the house lacked the most basic amenities such as plumbing, doors, and windows.

Saxon's attorney, Ron Zambrano, said in an emailed statement that the lien could force Ye to sell the house in order to collect the unpaid wages owed to the former caretaker. According to the lien that was shared with BI, Saxon's attorney is asking for more than $1.8 million.

"If anyone does work on someone's house in California and that person doesn't get paid, under the law, we can put a lien on the property and if there's still no effort to pay the bill, a judge could force the person to sell the house to pay off the laborer," Zambrano said in the statement. "So in this case, if someone wants to buy Kanye's Malibu home, they'll have to deal with us first. That sale cannot happen without Tony being paid."

An attorney for Ye did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saxon alleged in the lawsuit that his job included "16-hour day labor" and "24/7 security of the property."

For weeks, during his employment, Saxon was required to sleep on the floor of the incomplete home, the lawsuit alleged. Saxon also claimed he injured his back on the job.

According to the lawsuit, when Saxon asked the artist for time off on multiple occasions, Ye would ignore the request and ask for updates on the project.

Saxon was fired from his job after pushing back on some of Ye's demands, which included removing all of the electricity and windows and moving large generators inside the house, the lawsuit alleged.

The Journal reported that the home was put up for sale without any plumbing, electricity, windows, doors, or HVAC. Jason Oppenheim of the Oppenheim Group real estate firm told the publication that "much of the architectural integrity and the architectural value of the house exists."