Melanie Sloan is the mother of one of most successful woman in Hollywood – Scarlett Johansson.

But the 60-year-old is pleading poverty and has pulled out of buying a $1.4million apartment in Manhattan because she claims she cannot afford it.

Sloan managed her daughter’s successful career from the time she was nine-years-old but was fired by Johansson two years ago meaning she no longer gets 10% of whatever the Lost in Translation star earns.

Call your daughter: Scarlett Johansson’s mother Melanie Sloan (right) has pulled out of buying a $1.4m apartment in New York because she cannot afford it

The New York Post reports that Sloan signed a contract to buy the luxury two-bedroom property in October last year and put down a $130,000 deposit.

But she later backed out of the deal just weeks after signing on the dotted line saying that she could not obtain a mortgage and was cash-poor, according to legal documents.

Sloan’s accountant said that her earning potential had diminished substantially since losing her daughter as a client and that she was denied a mortgage on November 25 by Hudson City Savings Bank.

The lavish 1,228 square-foot home in The Strand on W. 43rd Street came with a doorman and swimming pool.

No deal: Scarlett’s mother had put down a $130,000 deposit in October last year but pulled out just weeks later saying she was denied a mortgage and is suing to get the money back

When she initially went to buy the property, Sloan told the apartment sellers, violinist Christina Castelli and pianist Grant Moffett, that she had one of her ‘best years yet in the entertainment industry.’

She said that the move would also bring her closer to her 27-year-old famous daughter who also lives in Manhattan.

But Sloan is said to be struggling financially since losing Scarlett as a client to Hollywood power agent Rick York who also represents Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz.

Her efforts to get new clients have apparently not been fruitful.

Sloan is now suing for the return of her deposit on the condo plus $20,000 to cover her legal fees.

Her contract apparently had a provision that Sloan was allowed to cancel if she was not able to get a mortgage but the seller’s team are not buying her story.

Financial struggle: Sloan received 10% of her daughter’s earnings for 15 years when she served as Scarlett’s manager but was fired two years ago

‘We don’t understand how she went from being rich to poor in two weeks,’ Adam Leitman said who is a lawyer for the people selling the home.

‘She acted in bad faith, and therefore our clients have the legal right to keep her down payment.’

The New York Post claims to have seen an email from Sloan to Johansson’s agent Troy Bailey seemingly desperate to find out if she was going to be receiving any money soon.

‘Do you know if there are any further Moët or D&G payments next year,’ Sloan wrote. ‘Scarlett said there was something due.

The agent wrote back: ‘The only payment [Scarlett] has due in 2012 is $250,000 from Moët.’

Sloan would get just $25,000 of that which would not be nearly enough to help fund her desired apartment.

Meanwhile, the Iron Man 2 star has revealed why she let her mother go after being her manager for 15 years.

‘Once I got married, I felt that I needed to cut the chord,’ Johansson told Vanity Fair recently. She divorced husband Ryan Reynolds after just two years of marriage.