For many celebrities—particularly actors, actresses, and professional athletes—there's not much certainty about where or when they will have to move, so some opt to rent, rather than buy a permanent home. For others, the rental provides some measure of privacy, if not from nosy neighbors, then at least from a listing in property records. The infamous tech millionaire Kim Dotcom—who gained international notoriety this year following his arrest on charges of copyright infringement, money laundering, and racketeering, related to his operation of the file-sharing network Megaupload—has been renting a massive mansion in New Zealand, because that country's government wouldn't permit a purchase. Believed to be worth $24M, the mansion sits on sixty gated acres and is filled with fancy gadgets and furniture, including three $100K beds, a $4.8M car collection, hidden staircases, a lap pool, and mountains of computer equipment.
? Pop megastar Lady Gaga is routinely rumored to be looking at, building, or buying some new property, but, in truth, she resides in this rented Bel Air mansion. She's been paying $25K a month for the pleasure of not owning the 6,000-square-foot spread, which, by the way, was available for purchase at $4.475M, as of February 2011.
? Fellow pop star Katy Perry left home ownership behind after a split with hubby Russell Brand, instead choosing to rent at West Hollywood's classy Colonial House. Silver screen legends Cary Grant and Bette Davis once lived at the Leland Bryant-designed apartment house, where Perry is currently paying around $8,500 a month for a three-bedroom unit.
? Perhaps tired to coping with cold New England winters, basketball star Ray Allen left behind a lucrative contract with the Boston Celtics to play for the Miami Heat. He wasted no time in leasing a baller paradise of the sort Boston has never seen. An 11,500-square-foot waterfront mansion, Allen's new pad includes 10 bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, a library, an elevator, and direct access to a man-made beach originally built for the tony Biltmore Hotel.
? Actress-turned-troublemaker Lindsay Lohan was nearly banned from the Chateau Marmont hotel for unpaid bills, but that didn't stop her from paying around $9K a month for this white house in Beverly Hills. Lohan, who reportedly dropped out of rehab for financial reasons, can at least enjoy the pool here, and enjoy the fact that she's paying far less than the rumored $25K/month rental rate.
? After her split with convicted fraudster Raffaello Follieri and his $37K/month rental at Manhattan's Olympic Tower, actress Anne Hathaway fled to Brooklyn in March with her then-fiancé Adam Shulman. The couple settled on a massive one-bedroom loft in 1 Main Street, the same Dumbo building that houses the famous clocktower penthouse. They rented the apartment, which also has a windowless home office, for around $6,400 a month.
? Mustachioed talk show host Steve Harvey may have just landed his own TV spot back in September, but he's already living the high life, by renting Chicago's most expensive apartment. Located on the 88th floor of that city's Trump Tower, the 6,850-square-foot penthouse has "16-foot ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows...a jacuzzi room, access to a four-car garage," and airliner views, for which Harvey is forking over $22K each month.
? Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, was once renting a $27K/month townhouse in the West Village, but after her landlord discovered that the Hole singer had painted over a meticulous renovation, a long eviction battle ensued. Love won, but moved out anyway and took up residence in a pricey Nolita loft. The application for the $25K/month apartment required a character reference, so Love got her's from U2 frontman Bono.
? The New York Jets other quarterback, Tim Tebow, arrived to great fanfare last summer, but despite the big contract, he chose a rather modest rental home in Jersey. Rumors are that the devout Tebow wanted to avoid the temptation of Manhattan, so he opted to pay $10K a month to live in Hoboken instead.
? Plenty of celebrities and anonymous rich people rent homes in the Hamptons each summer, but few approach the cost of the secluded estate rented by pop singer Mariah Carey and her husband, Nick Cannon. The couple spent a reported $275K to use the 7,500-square-foot, six-bedroom spread near Sag Harbor for the months of July and August. This was one of Carey's cheaper summers, as she had previously spent $350K for one month at Tommy Hilfiger's Hamptons abode.
· Here Now, the Craziest Details About Kim Dotcom's Mansion [Curbed National]
· May We Remind You That Lady Gaga is a 24-Year-Old Renter? [Curbed National]
· Spot Katy Perry By the Pool at Hollywood's Colonial House [Curbed National]
· Miami Heat Superstar Ray Allen's Giant $50,000/Month Rental [Curbed National]
· Lindsay Lohan Rents in Beverly Hills for Far Less than $25K [Curbed National]
· Exile on 1 Main Street: Anne Hathaway Moves to Dumbo [Curbed NY]
· Steve Harvey Rents in Trump [Curbed Chicago]
· Thanks to Bono, Courtney Love Now Renting at 285 Lafayette [Curbed NY]
· Jets' Golden Boy Tim Tebow Officially Renting in North Jersey [Curbed National]
· Is Mariah Carey Renting For Big Bucks Again in the Hamptons? [Curbed National]
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