Former New York mayor and Trump-attorney Rudy Giuliani will be allowed to remain in his Florida condo for the time being. A New York bankruptcy judge ruled on April 4 that Mr. Giuliani will not be forced to sell his Palm Beach estate, as demanded in a motion filed by his creditors.
Mr Giuliani declared bankruptcy at the end of last year, when he was ordered to pay compensation and damages of nearly $150 million to two former Georgia election workers, for questioning election integrity in the 2020 presidential election.
Judge Sean Lane acknowledged at a hearing that there is significant concern that Mr Giuliani was sinking money into the property, which is owed to several creditors, but decided to hold off on forcing a sale of the roughly $3.5 million property.
Mr. Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment was listed for around $5 million. His Florida condo will subsequently become his only residence after he stated that the property is needed to record his podcast, and that finding a new home in New York would exceed his financial means, effectively leaving him without a home or place to work.
This would leave the debtors with expenses for finding alternative accommodation, according to his lawyers.
“If the court compels the sale of the Florida condominium, then the debtor will be forced to incur expenses for alternative housing. Surely the committee does not intend the debtor to join the ranks of the homeless?” according to a motion brought forward by his lawyers on March 28.
Since declaring bankruptcy, several people have made allegations against Mr. Giuliani, accusing him of spreading lies against them, as well as assault, sexual harassment and illegally sharing personal information.
The creditors include several of his former attorneys, the IRS, and Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden.
According to Rachel Biblo Block, an attorney representing many of those creditors, Mr. Giuliani allegedly spent at least $160,000 on maintenance fees and taxes for the Florida condo since the bankruptcy.
This exceeds previous estimations by his lawyers of $8,000 per month, and, according to Ms Biblo Block, were rapidly depleting Mr. Giuliani’s limited assets, which include roughly $15,000 in cash in addition to a retirement fund of $1 million.
“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.
The judge said at the hearing that while it would be unlikely he would compel a sale of Mr. Giuliani’s Florida property, more draconian measures could be applied instead, in the event of Mr. Giuliani not complying with information requests about his spending habits.
These measures could include the possible appointment of a trustee to oversee his finances.
The next hearing is scheduled for May 14.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
