A Montville man has announced his plans to stop fighting a “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star from whom he has been renting a mansion. The real estate dispute was related to an attempt by the owner to evict the man due to breach of contract claims. The man was accused of not following through on an agreement to purchase the property for a reported price of $3.8 million.
The owner of the property sued the man, and a Superior Court judge ruled on September 3 in favor of the owner. As a result, the tenant was ordered to pay nearly $31,000 to avoid eviction. The man has indicated that he will move out of the mansion shortly, noting that he has located another property. He also noted that his attorney had been given terms for arranging a settlement related to termination of the housing agreement in the current residence.
The judgement in the owner’s favor included unpaid rent, late fees and legal expenses. The tenant indicated that his withholding of rent was related to the failure of the property owner to provide repairs to the home that had been promised. The property owner’s legal team indicated that nearly $200,000 was due because of a lease-purchase agreement, but the judge limited his ruling to the rent because this was all that was sought in the lawsuit.
An individual dealing with a real estate dispute may want to to meet with an attorney prior to withholding rent to ensure that actions taken might not create legal and financial problems later on. the attorney might recommend options for seeking necessary repairs if a property owner refuses to address the issues.
Source: NJ.com, “Tenant says he’ll move out of N.J. mansion owned by ‘Real Housewives’ star who sued him“, Ben Horowitz, September 07, 2014
