NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani will be allowed to remain in his Florida condo for now after a New York bankruptcy judge on Thursday declined to rule on a motion filed by his creditors that would’ve forced him to sell the Palm Beach estate.
At a hearing, Judge Sean Lane acknowledged the “significant” concern that Giuliani was sinking money into the condo that is owed to his numerous creditors, but said he would hold off on compelling a sale of the roughly $3.5 million property.
Giuliani declared bankruptcy in December after he was ordered to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers for spreading lies about their role in the 2020 election.
He 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.
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.
