Michael Jackson - File

los angeles (reuters)

Michael Jackson is refinancing his Neverland ranch in California and is not in danger of losing it to foreclosure as media reports have suggested, his spokeswoman said on Friday.

Spokeswoman Raymone Bain denied the pop superstar had defaulted on a $23 million loan on the central California ranch and said he was in the final stages of refinancing.

The Neverland Valley Ranch, named after the Peter Pan story of the boy who would not grow up, has amusement park rides and a zoo and was where Jackson hosted young boys for sleepovers.

Records from Santa Barbara County this week showed that Neverland was listed on its monthly foreclosure report, prompting media reports he was about to lose the property.

The foreclosure detail and default information said Jackson owed $23.2 million on a $23 million loan on the property, which he abandoned after his 2005 trial and acquittal on child sex abuse charges.

"Contrary to published reports, Mr Jackson was never in default of the loan. Mr Jackson is in the final stages of refinance and will not lose Neverland Valley Ranch," Bain said in a statement.

Bain said Jackson refinanced Neverland in 2006 and that the loan had matured in October 2007. He is now refinancing again.

Jackson, 49, shuttered Never-land after his trial and lived in Ireland, Dubai, Bahrain and Las Vegas. He gave his first U.S. magazine interview in a decade this month to the African-American monthly "Ebony," which said he was now living on the East Coast.

Jackson flew to Los Angeles on Thursday to attend the 66th birthday celebrations of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson became the pop singer's "spiritual adviser" during the 2005 trial.