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Rudy Giuliani’s creditors want to force him to sell his Florida condo

The Palm Beach property is a ‘significant drain on estate resources,’ the filing says

Kelly Rissman
Saturday 16 March 2024 15:51 GMT
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Rudy Giuliani tells The Independent he has 'nothing to hide' after bankruptcy hearing

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani could be forced by creditors to sell his Florida condo to pay off his massive debts.

The Committee of Unsecured Creditors – which represents individuals and entities to whom Mr Giuliani owes money or soon could — has filed a motion in bankruptcy court asking the court to compel the former mayor to sell his Florida condo.

Mr Giuliani valued his home in Palm Beach at $3.5m in previous court filings. It is his “second most valuable asset reported,” the filing states.

Mr Giuliani claimed he “only spends approximately 20-30% of his time in Florida” and primarily resides in his Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, the document says. The Manhattan apartment was previously listed for $6.5m but has since been taken off the market, with its value in bankruptcy court filings slashed by nearly a million.

“Every day that the Debtor holds the Florida Condo without making an effort to list, market and sell it, he continues to incur significant maintenance fees, in addition to other utilities, tax and upkeep costs,” the lawyers wrote.

The filing noted that Mr Giuliani listed spending roughly $8,400 per month related to the Florida condo. However, in January, Mr Giuliani made two maintenance fee payments of $15,995, the filing says.

The condo is “a significant drain on estate resources,” the lawyers wrote.

They also clarified that the committee is not forcing Mr Giuliani to “run an expedited sale process or accept a below market offer.”

However, the committee noted it is “concerned by” the former mayor’s “refusal to take steps to monetize a critical asset even though continuing to hold it wastes estate resources to the detriment of his unsecured creditors.”

The committee is also requesting that Mr Giuliani obtain homeowner’s insurance — which he has admitted he does not have for either property.

A “failure to maintain appropriate homeowners insurance puts the estate at great risk,” the filing says.

Despite not finding “sufficient funds to purchase homeowners insurance”, the former spent more than $26,000 in the month of January alone, the lawyers wrote. These expenses include more than 60 Amazon transactions, Uber rides, paying for parts of his associate Maria Ryan’s credit card, and travel and lodging expenses for his employees and associates.

The motion to compel comes weeks after The Independent reported that the committee is “discussing” whether to force Mr Giuliani to sue Donald Trump, his former client, for an alleged $2m in unpaid legal fees. The committee is considering compelling the former mayor to bring litigation against Mr Trump, the Trump campaign, and/or the Republican National Committee.

The man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2023 after a massive defamation verdict that ordered him to pay more than $148m to a pair of election workers he falsely accused of manipulating votes in Georgia.

As of Saturday morning, Mr Giuliani’s legal team has not yet responded to the filing.

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