ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani will be able to keep his Florida condo for now after a Federal judge in New York declined to rule on a motion filed by his creditors that would’ve forced him to sell the Palm Beach estate.
When Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, he said he had less than $10 million in assets but more than $100 million in debt, including the $148 million judgment for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the mother and daughter volunteers Giuliani accused perpetrating mass voter fraud.
In court documents filed last month, creditors were targeting Giuliani’s $3.5 million Florida condo to recoup some of his significant debt.
The documents showed Giuliani spent “approximately 20-30% of his time in Florida” and said the Florida residence must be sold.
On Thursday, Judge Sean Lane acknowledged the “significant” concern that Giuliani was sinking money into the condo that is owed to his numerous creditors.
Giuliani has agreed to list his Manhattan apartment for roughly $5 million but argues he should continue living in the Florida condo, citing the need to record his podcast there and the “prohibitive” cost of finding a new home in New York.
“If the court compels the sale of the Florida condominium, then the debtor will be forced to incur expenses for alternative housing,” his lawyers wrote in a March 28 motion. “Surely the committee does not intend the debtor to join the ranks of the homeless?”
The bankruptcy has brought forth a diverse coalition of creditors who say they are owed money by Giuliani, including a supermarket employee who was thrown in jail for patting him on the back, two elections technology companies that he spread conspiracies about, a woman who says he coerced her into sex, several of his former attorneys, the IRS and Hunter Biden, who claims Giuliani illegally shared his personal data.
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An attorney representing many of those creditors, Rachel Biblo Block, said Thursday that Giuliani had spent at least $160,000 on maintenance fees and taxes for the Florida condo since the bankruptcy, far more than the $8,000 in monthly payments that his lawyers previously estimated.
Those payments, she added, were “rapidly depleting” Giuliani’s limited assets, which include about $15,000 in cash and $1 million in a retirement account.
“We don’t want to be left with our creditors holding the bag while he gets to be living in his luxurious condo,” she said, adding that Giuliani had “shown an inclination to stall” as he seeks to appeal the judgment in the Georgia election workers case.
While the judge suggested he was unlikely to force a sale of the property, he hinted at more “draconian” measures if Giuliani does not comply with information requests about his spending habits — including the possible appointment of a trustee to oversee his finances.
The next hearing is scheduled for May 14th.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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