Foreclosure Fight

Posted on April 29, 2008
Filed Under Foreclosure Homes |

Cheryl Lacoff of Greenwich was given a favourable judgment by federal judge. She had been collecting over $2 million as rent dues and compensation for a house that was in the occupation of financier Martin R. Frankel – a much wanted rogue offender. Thus the foreclosure fight over her house – Frankel House continues. A request by the prosecutors to dismiss the claim by Lacoff was rejected by Judge Ellen Bree.

In 1999 Lacoff had won a $2 million judgment against this Frankel in the state housing court. The allegation was that Frankel had caused considerable damage to her Greenwich house that she had rented out to him in 1995. Apart from being a tenant in the house of Lacoff, Frankel owned two other units on the same street. Lacoff had alleged that considerable damage had been done to her house by changing the residential unit into office spaces. For satellite dishes he had made holes made in the roof, pierced walls for pulling wires and cables etc.

In 2006 Frankel had been again sentenced to a federal prison – this time for about 17 years. He was convicted for taking over insurance companies and misappropriating $2 million in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri. Frankel ran away after facing the regulators of Mississippi questioning the management practices of several insurance companies. He was however caught in Germany and arrested. Frankel pleaded guilty on 24 counts of fraud as well as racketeering in 2002.

Taking the cue from the judgment Lacoff attached a lien on one of the houses owned by Frankel. But the companies concerned filed a foreclosure on the propertyso as to get back their assets. The charge against Lacoff was that she was not a blameless owner because she had already come to know of the illegal activities of Frankel. It had caught media headlines. This was before she acquired a lien on the property now being repossessed upon. But Lacoff could prove that she was innocent in front of the law. The dispute has not been solved but continues. Immediate repos however has been stalled.

According to Associated Press prosecutors had agreed to lessen the sentence of Frankel if he helped in the recovery of some part of the money. He faced a sentence of 150 years in prison plus $6.5 million as fines. In all he owes his creditors $208 million. Roman Catholic Emilio Colagiovanni an octogenarian lawyer with Vatican connections was involved in this racket of Frankel along with some of Frankel’s girlfriends.