EXCLUSIVE: Get in Line! Creditors Set to Collect From Giudice Mansion Foreclosure
It’s about time! Longtime viewers of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” had front row seats, as Joe and Teresa Giudice settled into their ostentatiously renovated, Montville Township mansion. We all watched as they proudly outfitted their home with top of the line, albeit tacky, luxury trimmings, pricey furniture and designer labels.
Fast-forward a couple of years, and Teresa’s new residence is a bare bones prison cell, with her thieving husband on the road to the slammer right behind her. The fraudulently gained family palace remains the most glaring reminder of the criminal avarice that will forever define this crashed and burned reality pair. The Giudicies remain buried in mountains of debt, and how the millions of dollars will be paid back, is a question yet to be fully answered. Finally, the wheels of financial justice are beginning to slowly turn, as a deed holding bank, Community Bank of Bergen County, recently filed a foreclosure complaint in Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, seeking to recoup their losses. They are far from alone, because after a little digging, All About the Tea can exclusively report that the line to collect is REAL!
READ: Homeless Housewife: The Next Steps in Bank Foreclosure Action For Teresa & Joe Giudice
Businesses and individuals alike are poised to collect when this gaudy piece of real estate sells, and Community Bank will have to wait their turn, as several of the swindled seek justice. As previously reported on All About the Tea, the Giudicies racked up a long list of victims during their many years of criminal borrowing, and fistfuls of cash spending. Some of these creditors have taken the step to file judgments, and are ready to collect what is rightfully theirs, establishing liens against the Giudice property.
- Joe Mastropole, a former business partner of Joe’s was ripped off when Joe forged his signature to obtain a line of credit on some jointly owned properties. Mastropole sued Giudice and won, but still awaits his $255k court ordered award
- North Hudson IVF, the fertility clinic that the couple hired to help bring their fourth daughter into the world, was fleeced and is owed almost $12k
- Alliance Laundry Systems, the only company who moved quickly enough to snag a Bravo paycheck wage garnishment, is listed as being owed almost $236k
- Public Service Electric & Gas Company’s bill reads $60k
- The United States government has a whopping $925k amount attached to Joe, and a $923k amount to Teresa, both restitution figures, placed as liens against their dream house.
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Teresa Giudice’s Bravo Paycheck Garnished By Creditor
As stated above, Alliance Laundry Systems, wisely jumped to collect early. They were the only company to take the Giudices to court prior to their 2009 bankruptcy filing, and went on to win a judgment that ordered Teresa’s paychecks to be garnished. The reality TV couple sought to get the judgment dismissed, by including Alliance in their bankruptcy filing, but ultimately their desperate tactic failed. The laundry company won a judgment and 10% of Teresa’s Bravo paycheck goes directly to the Alliance. Teresa earned $700k plus bonuses from Bravo for season six of RHONJ.
How can creditors legitimately collect on the money that is owed to them by the double dipping and double-crossing Giudices? Typically creditors can levy on a bank account, garnish wages, or collect on personal property. When a person fails to pay on a debt, the business or individual seeking payment can sue. Creditors here recorded judgments with the Superior Court to create liens against the Giudices’ real estate. When a judge enters an order (or “judgment”) in favor of the plaintiff-creditor, that judgment can be turned into a lien to provide a better means of collection.
A laundry list of creditors has been included in the Complaint In Mortgage Foreclosure filed by the Community Bank of Bergen County, New Jersey on April 3, 2015. In addition to those creditors listed above, the Giudices are indebted to
- JW Pierson Co. ($23,696.63)
- Burrell L. Humphreys ($6,219.98)
- State of New Jersey/New Jersey Spill Compensation Fund ($31,056.83)
- United States of America in the amounts of $425,013.90, $422,988.90, $500,000, and another $500,000
A judgment lien on real estate is a semi-effective tool for collections attorneys because a lien gives a creditor a security interest in the debtor’s property. A judgment lien against real estate would be paid upon the sale or refinance of the property. A judgment lien gives the creditor the right to be paid a certain amount of money from proceeds from the sale of the debtor’s property.
A property owner should, in theory, be motivated to pay a judgment lien claim as soon as it is aware of it because judgment liens impair the property’s equity. We know that is not the case here. The Giudices have been running and scamming creditors for years, and giving back ill-gotten gains – even with a judgment firmly in place – is as easy for them as pulling teeth (minus the anesthesia).
The following creditors (Defendants) are listed in Plaintiff’s Complaint In Mortgage Foreclosure because they are either the holder of an instrument or interest that may affect the Mortgaged Premises or because they are the holder of a legal and equitable interest in the Mortgaged Premises or hold judgment liens, which Judgments were entered in Superior Court or in the Clerk of Sussex County and which are subordinate to Plaintiff’s Mortgage lien. Have all recovered judgments against Teresa and Joe Giudice:
- Joseph Mastropole and Frances Mastropole
- JW Pierson Co.,
- Burrell L. Humphreys
- Public Service Electric & Gas Company
- Alliance Laundry Systems LLC
- A DE LLC
- North Hudson IVF
- State of New Jersey
- United States of America
The moment a creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor and it is docketed, the debtor cannot sell or refinance any real property without paying off or obtaining a lawful release of the judgment lien. The United States of America may shockingly find itself SOL if there is not enough money to cover the claims of all lienholders when the Giudices’ Towaco, New Jersey home is sold. Whether a creditor gets paid depends on when other lienholders placed liens on the property. Basically, there may not be enough money from the sale of the Giudices’ gaudy monstrosity to go around. Here, North Hudson IVF had their judgment docketed in 2009. The U.S. government’s judgments were docketed beginning in 2013. First in time, first in right.
READ: Teresa Giudice Foreclosure Complaint By Community Bank
As indicated previously, a real estate lien isn’t an indestructible legal device used by creditors to collect on judgments. Creditors might have to wait years before the judgment debtor sells or refinances the property. In this case, the foreclosure action could take up to three years to be finalized. That means people like the Mastropoles won’t see a dime until 2018. The other titanic problem for some creditors is that the sale of 6 Indian Lane does not guarantee payback because each creditor is paid after the real estate sells and only if there is sufficient money available after the mortgage lender and anyone who has recorded a lien ahead of you is paid. Too, if the debtor falls behind on monthly payments and the mortgage lender forecloses on the property, the chances of JW Pierson Co. or Public Service Electric & Gas Company collecting on the lien are low, given that a foreclosure sale rarely brings in enough to pay the amount owed to the mortgage lender.
The unloading of this gluttonous display of criminal greed cannot come soon enough. Let the payouts begin.
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Becca is a Senior Editor for All About The Tea. She’s a coastal girl who loves the outdoors, and writing about the sneaky and silly side of reality TV. Her bio is short, but her snark is endless. She loves writing for the sharpest posters in the world.