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It's lawyer vs. landlord in real estate clash

Court drama includes a $4-million mansion, a title and a big deposit.

By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 25, 2006

TAMPA — Look out. The gloves are coming off.

Tampa Bay’s best-known lawyer has sued Tampa Bay’s most notorious landlord over a real estate deal gone bad.

Lawyer Barry Cohen earlier this year agreed to pay $4.2-million for a 6,990-square-foot, five-bedroom, Hyde Park mansion that belonged to investor Steven Green.

But in a suit filed in Hillsborough circuit court, Cohen says that Green Family Holdings LLC, the trust that owns the 801 S Delaware Ave. property, failed to produce a clear title and has refused to return Cohen’s $422,500 deposit.

Green said Wednesday there were “absolutely no title defects.”

Instead, he said that Cohen could not obtain a mortgage because he was “overextended.” Green also said he hoped for a “more suitable buyer” and called Cohen’s plans for the house, such as turning an upstairs ballroom into a basketball court, an example of “questionable taste.”

Spokesman Kevin Kalwary said Cohen was out of town on business Wednesday.

“He’s of the opinion to let it speak for itself,” Kalwary said of the suit, which seeks a lien against the property.
Originally, the closing on the house was scheduled for May 31, but it kept getting pushed back.

According to Cohen’s suit, the postponements were mutual at first. But soon, Green’s company failed to meet deadlines for producing a clear title, proof of registration as a Florida corporation and other documents, such as a seller’s disclosure statement and a termite inspection report.

After Cohen complained of various title defects, the suit alleges, Green sent an e-mail to his attorney, a copy of which he sent to Cohen, that said, “Kill this deal — It’s adversarial and I have a higher offer. We’re done.”

Green said Wednesday that Cohen had asked for “numerous extensions” on the closing date so he could “try again” to get financing for the mortgage, which Cohen listed at $6.4-million. It was unclear why he needed the higher amount for the purchase. “Clearly he was unsuccessful,” Green said.

Cohen says he wrote to Green on June 16 and told him he planned to terminate the deal if he didn’t receive the proper documents that afternoon, which he did not.

Cohen said he followed that letter with calls from his attorney, an e-mail and a letter confirming that the deal was off and demanding his deposit.

Cohen is seeking a lien against the Delaware Avenue property in the amount of his deposit, plus interest and attorney’s fees.

Green’s attorney recently filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming that the contract the two parties signed said any disputes must first go to mediation.

Therefore, the motion states, “plaintiff’s claims are not ripe for judicial review.”

Lawsuits involving Green’s residences have landed him court before. In 2003, SunTrust Bank won an $800,000 judgment against Green in a foreclosure suit involving the Delaware Avenue home.

But the bank was unable to collect the debt after Green transferred the home to Green Family Holdings, placing it out of reach of his creditors.

Records show he later signed new mortgages for the SunTrust debt and added new collateral in the form of a Fort Lauderdale townhouse. Records also show the bank required Green to sign a second set of papers after learning his signature on the first set had been notarized by a New York woman with no record of a notary license.

In Yonkers, the HSBC Bank won a $526,973 judgment after Green failed to pay an unsecured business note. HSBC tried to place a lien on Green’s $1.6-million Yonkers home, but found Green had transferred that property to Green Family Holdings.

The real estate investor — once listed among New York City’s 10 worst landlords and the record holder for the highest fines ever issued by Hillsborough County code enforcement — has spent much of the past year divesting himself of Tampa apartment complexes owned by his various companies.

According to Hillsborough County records, he has sold at least 10 complexes worth a total of more than $140-million.

Green said Wednesday he sold because the Tampa market appears to have peaked. “It seemed like a smart time to sell, and recent price reductions have borne that out,” he said.

The fact that Green has been scaling back his Tampa properties doesn’t mean he has stopped investing — or causing a stir — elsewhere.

In Bronxville, N.Y., his proposal to renovate a former storage warehouse into an office building with four apartments has drawn criticism from locals.

Last year, Green’s companies purchased apartment complexes in Clarksville, Tenn., and quickly angered contractors and suppliers, who said he didn’t pay them for their work. Several took out liens against his properties.

That’s not much different from Tampa, where various vendors have placed liens on Green’s properties over the years.

On Wednesday, Green didn’t say whether he planned on returning Cohen’s hefty deposit without a fight, but he did say he’d rather see someone else move into the Hyde Park house.

“I would hope a more suitable buyer winds up with the house, someone who appreciates the beauty of the 'Grand Dame of Tampa,’ a house which took more than three years to fully restore,” Green said.

“Mr. Cohen’s intention of turning the ballroom into a basketball court and erecting a steel barrier fencing around a circa 1908 Queen Anne landmark clearly falls into the category of questionable taste.”

[Last modified October 25, 2006, 23:28:58]