A federal judge in the Southern District of Florida, in Miami, dismissed a foreclosure lawsuit against the Shore Club Hotel in Miami Beach. The pursuit of this foreclosure in federal court is not the norm because most foreclosures are filed in county circuit court. Nevertheless, this victory for the Shore Club may be short-lived because the lender has vowed to continue to attempt to seize the iconic hotel.
The current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated. Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many parties in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them.
There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.
As for the Shore Club case, back in March, the representative of commercial mortgage-backed securities fund serviced by local company, LNR Partners, filed a $126 million foreclosure lawsuit against the hotel’s owner, Philips South Beach. Philips South Beach responded to the lawsuit with a counterclaim. The counterclaim alleged that the fund organizers and LNR Partners gave confidential business plans to the developers of a rival South Beach hotel, The W. They also sought to have the case dismissed by arguing that federal court was not the right place to file this lawsuit.
US District Judge Cecilia Altonaga agreed with the owners of the Shore Club and dismissed the case. The judge stated that although the plaintiffs resided in a diverse group of states across the country, this simply was not enough to make federal court the proper venue. The judge ruled that because some of the plaintiffs resided in the hotel owner’s state of incorporation there was a lack of complete diversity.
According to reports, the hotel’s owner has not made a mortgage payment on the hotel in more than a year. It was appraised in 2009 for $86 million.
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