Libbie Mugrabi is staying put in the Hamptons mansion she lost in a court-ordered foreclosure auction last month.
asserted
she → stay → auction
As the one-time socialite digs in her heels, the attorney who repped her throughout the lengthy battle to keep the property has filed an action in a Suffolk County appellate court to invalidate the auction, which the court has not yet acted upon.
asserted
court → dig → which
Mugrabi and the attorney, Claude Castro of Castro Law Group, told the court they have lined up a lender willing to provide a loan that would save the home and allow her to stay.
asserted
her → tell → home
Mugrabi would use as collateral a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that is appraised at $40 million.
asserted
that → use → million
She recently won the artwork back in a separate legal battle.
asserted
She → win → battle
It isn’t clear, however, whether Castro will pursue the matter because Mugrabi has now parted ways with him, according to court documents.
uncertain
Mugrabi → pursue → documents
In a handwritten note to the court, with hearts over each “i” in her name, Mugrabi said that she wants to handle situation herself from this point henceforth.
asserted
she → say → point
This marks the latest twist in a lengthy melee that has papered the court with thousands of pages of legal claims.
uncertain
that → mark → claims
Over the past two years, Mugrabi has tried to convince the court she should be allowed to keep the home despite defaulting — by admittedly not paying anything — on a $3.5 million loan that used it as collateral.
asserted
that → try → collateral
Mugrabi got the 10,687-square-foot Bridgehampton mansion and its surrounding 6.8 acres as part of an equally fraught settlement in her divorce from the billionaire art collector David Mugrabi — an heir to an Israeli industrial fortune — in 2020.
asserted
Mugrabi → get → 2020
Mugrabi previously told The Post she received $100 million in cash and other assets from the settlement, although the figure has not been verified.
asserted
figure → tell → settlement
Mugrabi, speaking from the home, told The Post she has not set a time to leave the property.
asserted
she → speak → property
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.
asserted
she → know → ?
Her mother, Jane Scher, said she “Wants this all over,” so her daughter can, “make a fresh start as the artist she truly is.”
asserted
she → say → artist
Pressure is also coming from her lender’s law firm, which on Sept. 11 responded to Mugrabi’s motion to the appellate division to stop the sale and give her more time to pay off the loan.
asserted
which → come → loan
It contains 72 pages of other reasons to bolster its case, especially highlighting the settlement Mugrabi agreed to with the lender in the spring that gave her 90 days, until Aug. 25, to sell the home through a traditional listing — or give up all rights to it.
asserted
that → contain → it
The effort started with a $25 million asking price that quickly reduced by two price cuts to $19 million.
asserted
that → start → million
Because Mugrabi didn’t sell the home, “and actually consented to the eviction in the settlement, she gave up virtually all of her rights to appeal,” said Maria Beltrani, a partner at Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg & Atlas in the firm’s real estate and litigation department.
asserted
Beltrani → sell → department
Beltrani is not involved in the case but reviewed it at The Post’s request.
asserted
Beltrani → involve → request
Last month’s auction itself had every carnival element except for corn dogs.
asserted
auction → have → dogs
Mugrabi’s sister, Mia Rowe, first won the property with a $7.8 million commitment after furiously topping all offers from roughly 10 other bidders.
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sister → win → bidders
But Rowe never returned after saying she was going to a Chase bank branch to get the required 10% down payment.
asserted
she → return → payment
And the bidders, who had been left cooling their heels for close to an hour without shade in the 82-degree swelter, were furious that she was even allowed to participate empty-handed.
asserted
she → leave → swelter
When the tumult died down, Henry Ikezi, a hopeful Queens politician and real estate investor, won the property with a $5.86 million bid made on his behalf by his brother, Stanley.
asserted
Ikezi → die → brother
Ikezi had 30 or 45 days, depending on how the sale is legally structured, from the Aug. 28, auction date to pay the balance of sale amount and then begin legal efforts to get Mugrabi out of the home if she doesn’t leave of her own accord.
asserted
she → have → accord
Ikezi did not respond to requests for comment about whether he has completed the purchase.
asserted
he → respond → purchase
The Aporia
