It has been noted that creditors have demanded to force Rudy Giuliani to sell his $3.5 million Florida condo to help pay his significant debts, according to a court document filed on Friday via CNBC.
The former New York City mayor had filed for bankruptcy protection in December, citing myriad unpaid debts including a $148 million payment to two Georgia election poll workers who he falsely claimed had tampered with the 2020 election ballots while he was serving as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump.
In response to Friday’s filing, Giuliani’s counsel said the request to sell the Florida condo is “extremely premature.”
“The case is still in its infancy,” said Heath Berger, partner at Berger, Fischoff, Shumer, Wexler & Goodman, LLP, who is representing Giuliani in his bankruptcy litigation.
Giuliani has also argued that he does not hold the funds to pay his debts, the Friday court filing said: “According to the Debtor’s counsel, ‘there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.’”
Giuliani’s primary income comes from Social Security payments and money from his Individual Retirement Account, Berger told CNBC.
However, the court document noted that various expenses Giuliani pays now to maintain his lifestyle. For example, Giuliani pays tens of thousands of dollars a month to maintain his Florida condo.
In January, according to the document, he also racked up more than $26,200 in credit card payments on 60 Amazon transactions, with charges for Netflix, Prime Video, Kindle, Audible, Paramount+, Uber rides and more.
“Unfortunately, like everybody else, that’s like a debit card for him,” Berger said. “We don’t believe that there’s anything out of the ordinary, outside of normal living expenses.”
Creditors see his real estate assets to recoup what is owed. They said his “pre-war co-op” apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side is exempt since it is his primary residence.
However, the document stated that Giuliani spends “approximately 20-30% of his time in Florida” and therefore creditors claimed the $3.5 million condo must be sold.
“It is merely a matter of when, not if, the Debtor will have to sell the Florida Condo in order to distribute the proceeds thereof to creditors,” the filing said.
But Giuliani is currently in the process of selling the Manhattan apartment and is looking to relocate to his Florida residence full-time, Berger said.
“The Manhattan property is more expensive to maintain. It’s worth more so there’ll be a greater distribution to creditors from the sale of that property,” Berger told CNBC.
Berger added that payments related to his divorce “will be coming to a conclusion … within the next year or so.”
Creditors also demand that Giuliani secure homeowners insurance for his Florida and New York City residences since they are his two most valuable assets and “if anything were to happen to either of them, such loss would be a significant impediment to creditor recoveries.”
