“They cried “fraud!” — and now, a bunch of well-heeled apartment hunters will get a staggering 90 percent of their deposits back on posh pads they intended to buy at the troubled Trump SoHo condo-hotel because they relied on the developers’ “deceptive” sales figures. In a federal lawsuit settled yesterday, woulda-been buyers of 10 condos — including former French soccer star Olivier Dacourt — will get back 90 percent of $3.16 million (Not part of settlement total number is $5.197) total deposits they put down on $16.914 million worth of David Rockwell-designed luxury apartments, court documents show …
The disgruntled buyers were represented by Adam Leitman Bailey, the lawyer who has won large refunds on deposits for prospective purchasers at other high-profile condo projects.
Bailey said, “We are not superheros — we simply got Trump SoHo to do the right thing in a very difficult case.” – NY Post
As part of the firm’s efforts on behalf of wide range of individuals seeking to revoke or renegotiate their agreements to purchase new construction condominium units, we received a June 2010 filing made with the New York Attorney General from the sponsor of the Trump Soho Hotel Condominium. The filing disclosed that, in contrast to the statements that the sponsor had been making to the press and our clients that more than 60% of the approximately 400 Trump Soho units had been sold, only 62 units (just over 15%) were reported to the Attorney General as sold. In addition, the filing disclosed that the condominium’s staffing levels had been cut more than 25%. Based on this information, and additional investigation, in August 2010 the firm filed a suit on behalf of 15 plaintiffs against the Trump Soho’s sponsor and other individuals and companies involved in developing and marketing the condominium, including Donald Trump. The suit, filed in Manhattan federal district court, alleges that the false statements about Trump Soho sales constituted fraud under the federal securities law, the common law and New York consumer protection statutes. The suit also claims breach of contract entitled the plaintiffs to revoke their contracts and receive a full refund of all downpayments they have deposited.
Adam Leitman Bailey, John Desiderio, and Courtney J. Lerias are the team at Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. representing plaintiffs from Europe, Asia and the United States.
