Complaints by Kevin Spacey that his Baltimore home was improperly sold at auction are merely a delay tactic to buy the famous actor several more months inside the foreclosed waterfront mansion, the buyer claimed in new court filings.

Bethesda real estate investor Sam Asgari fired back in his legal fight with Spacey, asking the court to reject the actor’s claims and approve the sale. Asgari snapped up the 9,000-square-foot Inner Harbor home at public auction in July with a bid of $3.24 million. He has paid $324,000 toward the price.

The court’s approval would clear the way for him to pursue evicting Spacey.

Spacey had moved to Baltimore while filming the hit Netflix political drama “House of Cards.” He bought the luxury home for $5.65 million under the name Clear Toaster LLC to protect his privacy.

“Clear Toaster is attempting to delay for the pure sake of delay so that its Principal can stay in a multimillion-dollar luxury condominium rent-free, tax-free, loan-free, and maintain a proverbial (and very costly) free ride at Mr. Asgari’s cost and expense,” Asgari’s attorney wrote in court papers filed Wednesday.

Spacey’s attorneys had asked the courts last week to block Asgari from completing his purchase of the home. The actor’s attorney argued in court filings that the sale happened without proper notice, that it fetched too low a price, and that Asgari has since tried to bully the actor to move out with publicity and threats of eviction.

Edward U. Lee III, the actor’s attorney, has asked the Baltimore Circuit Court to schedule a hearing on the matter.

Among his complaints, Lee argued last week that Asgari had mounted a “pressure campaign” to drive the actor out and had threatened to give interviews to “Inside Edition” and CBS News.

“That Clear Toaster is upset that this matter is a matter of interest to the media is immaterial to the question of whether a prior foreclosed owner can seek to disqualify a foreclosure purchase,” Gregory Carroll, the investor’s attorney, wrote the Wednesday court filing.

Carroll also argued that there was plenty of notice in advance of the sale. A handful of news reporters covered the auction on the steps of the Baltimore Circuit Court, and a small bidding war drove the price from $1.5 million to Asgari’s high bid of $3.24 million.

The sides have been negotiating for almost two months as Asgari attempts to complete his purchase and take possession of the home. According to court records, he had offered Spacey $50,000 to move out by Sept. 15 in what’s commonly known as a “cash-for-keys” agreement. Spacey, however, wanted to remain in the house until February and in exchange would agree to not interfere with the purchase of Asgari’s attempts to resell the house, according to court records.

Following a foreclosure auction, the sale must be ratified, or approved, by the courts before the highest bidder can settle on the property and receive a deed. Investors say the process takes months. Only afterward may the buyer take further legal action and attempt eviction by sheriff’s deputies. The process generally permits an ex-homeowner to stay for months in a house after auction.

With the new filings, Asgari’s attorney asked the court to reject the actor’s arguments and ratify the sale.

A debt collection agency filed the foreclosure case against Spacey in April 2022. His attorneys twice participated in mediation, but were unable to stave off the sale. His homeowners association also filed a lien against the property for unpaid monthly assessments and fees.

Once listed as “Baltimore’s most extraordinary home,” the house floats on a pier that stretches into the harbor from Federal Hill in one of the city’s most exclusive gated communities.

The house features five floors, five bedrooms, seven full baths, an elevator, sauna, home theater, rooftop terrace and four-car garage.

The distinctive pier home remained Spacey’s primary residence after he was fired from “House of Cards” over allegations of sexual assault. In an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, the actor broke down when he discussed losing his home.

He also revealed that he’s millions of dollars in debt, can’t pay his legal bills and was moving his belongings into storage.

Spacey was fired from “House of Cards” and sued in Manhattan for allegedly making a sexual advance on a teenage boy in the 1980s, which the actor denied. In October 2022, jurors sided with Spacey in the case.

Nine months after that decision, a London jury acquitted Spacey of sexual assault in another case. The actor told jurors he had been out of work since the first sex abuse allegations came out against him.