Former New York city mayor Rudy Giuliani is fighting to hold onto his assets after losing a $148 million defamation judgment in December.
On Friday, creditors filed a motion in New York Bankruptcy Court seeking to compel the sale of Giuliani's luxury condominium in Palm Beach, Florida in an effort to get him to start paying down the judgment. The creditors argued that because Giuliani is domiciled in New York City and already claims homestead exemptions on his apartment in Manhattan, he has no such rights for his Florida condo and cannot say he's entitled to live there following the conclusion of his bankruptcy proceedings.
"On several occasions, the Debtor has emphasized his limited assets available for distribution to creditors — according to the Debtor’s counsel, 'here’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,'" the motion read. "Of this purported limited pool of assets disclosed by the Debtor, the Florida Condo is a key asset, and the proceeds thereof will be available to satisfy the claims of his creditors."
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The condo itself is valued at $4.8 million, according to real estate website Redfin. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,064 square-foot residence within walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean is projected to sell for anywhere from $4.5 million to $5.4 million. Giuliani first bought the property in 2010 for $1.4 million, meaning it's appreciated by as much as five times its previous sale price.
Creditors noted that Giuliani continues to pay a five-figure sum in monthly HOA fees, and wrote that they were "troubled by the Debtor’s recklessness in not maintaining any homeowners insurance for the Florida Condo or the NYC Apartment." They used Giuliani's apparent failure to "exercise due care" of his assets as justification to force the sale.
"[T]he Debtor incurs tens of thousands of dollars of maintenance fees for the Florida Condo every month. Concerned by this drain on estate resources, the Committee, through its counsel, repeatedly has asked the Debtor’s counsel what the Debtor’s plan is for the Florida Condo," the creditors stated. "To date, these entreaties have been fruitless, and the Debtor has exhibited no motivation to list, market or otherwise take steps to sell the Florida Condo, the proceeds of which necessarily must be distributed to his creditors."
"[T]he Debtor confirmed that he resides and spends most of his time in Manhattan and that the NYC Apartment is his primary residence," they added.
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Giuliani's finances were dealt a major blow late last year when a judge awarded former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss a nine-figure judgment in compensatory and punitive damages as a result of Giuliani's baseless assertions that they manipulated votes against former President Donald Trump. Both women were driven from their jobs and found difficulty attaining other employment due to Giuliani's campaign against them.
The former New York City mayor has doubled down on his defamation of Freeman and Moss, and their attorneys have not ruled out taking additional legal action against Giuliani if he continues publicly attacking the two women.
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