Exclusive: Melissa and Joe Gorga House Update — Something Ain’t Clean in The Buttermilk!

As we previously reported in March, the Gorgas moved out of their Montville, New Jersey McMansion into a modest colonial rental in Franklin Lakes. The couple claimed they sold their Montville, New Jersey home for their full asking price of $3.8 million and had started construction on a new dream home in Franklin Lakes. Joe Gorga posted pics on social media of himself holding engineer drawings to back up his statements of plans for a new home.

[READ] The Gorgas Are Moving To The Hood

Now according to US Weekly, Melissa and Joe claim they are pursuing legal action against the purchaser of their Montville mansion, who has failed to make recent payments on their former New Jersey home. That statement in itself makes no sense because if someone “purchases” a home, they own it, either by paying the full amount up front or obtaining a loan and making payments to a bank or lending company. Logically, the house was not sold and according to a Morris County Property search, Melissa and Joe Gorga are listed as the current owners.

A rep for the Gorga family tells Us Weekly:

“In August 2013, the Gorgas entered into a purchase agreement with an extended close option for the sale of their Montville home. To date, the purchaser has failed to uphold his financial obligations under the agreement and provided bounced checks totaling $20,000 as well as failed to pay rent for the months of April, May, and June 2014. After repeated attempts to have purchaser honor his agreement, the Gorgas were left with no other choice, but to pursue legal action and filed a summons for eviction.  The Gorgas have continued to carry and pay taxes for the Montville home while also building a new home in Franklin Lakes.”

The statement above roused my suspicion even further which led me to do some digging. And according to the Borough of Franklin Lakes Construction Department, neither Joe Gorga or Melissa Gorga have current construction permits on file. The office informed me, permits were filed previously in 1994, 2004 and 2006 but nothing current. The clerk also stated, no construction can take place “legally” without the proper permits filed in their office.

The woman on the phone went on to comment that Richard Wakile and Kevin Jonas (as in Jonas Brothers) came into the office to file construction permits and the Wakile’s are actively building. This is true because Kathy and Rich have posted numerous pics during various stages of their construction. Like the one below.

My findings are very puzzling since the Gorga’s have stated on numerous occasions they are in the process of building their dream house in Franklin Lakes and they sold their Montville mansion. 

UPDATE: via NJ.com 

• The Gorga’s and their tenant appeared in court on Friday, to answer to the Gorga’s complaint of non-payment of rent. The tenant, Kai Patterson, showed up late and the judge ruled in the Gorga’s favor by default.

• In a written statement by the tenant’s representative,  his purpose for being late was due to a broken sprinkler system, it was leaking water by the gallons.

• Patterson, who had already paid the Gorgas’ unpaid water bill of $4,416, attempted to plug the “gushing water,” and that made him late, according to the statement.

• Patterson said the dispute with the Bravo channel stars arose after he paid a $25,000 deposit meant to go for repairs on the house, but the Gorgas made no repairs. His representative’s statement listed numerous problems with the house, involving plumbing and heating issues and beavers living in crawl spaces.

• His attorney has filed a motion to vacate the default, the statement said, adding that the parties expect to settle the lawsuit.

• “They want their payments and I want repairs,” Patterson said.

• The agreement was signed last August and Patterson officially took possession of the house in April.

• Patterson has provided only “bounced checks” totaling $20,000 for April and no payments since then, according to the Gorgas’ complaint. He did make a partial payment of $10,000 against the bounced check, they said.

• The Gorga’s continue to pay taxes for the home in Montville while renting a home in Franklin Lakes, where they are also building a house, their representative said.

• The statement from Patterson’s representative said he has paid more than $30,000 for repairs and the water bill, along with another $20,000 for rent, so given the condition of the house, he is legally up to date on his payments.

• The statement pointed out that an amended agreement in November changed the payments from $20,000 per month for rent to $10,000 for rent and $10,000 as a purchase credit, and the purchase credit required repairs.

• The statement from Patterson’s representative listed problems including a pipe that burst in the master bathroom tub, making it unusable; a showerhead in the master bathroom bath that doesn’t work properly and a fireplace in the old billiard room, now an office, that was “stuffed with Mr.Gorga’s T-Shirt in an attempt to reduce the cold air coming into the room.”

• Melissa and Joe’s representative declined to comment on the issue of repairs or the likelihood of a settlement, but added, “Any claims regarding why payment has not been made are an attempt to deflect from the simple fact that he bounced checks and made false promises of payment.”

 

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