The brief and wondrous life of a townhouse: Junot Diaz quarrels with ex over property

Here’s a real page turner — Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz was engaged in a drawn out legal battle over an Upper Manhattan townhouse with his former girlfriend, State Senate candidate Marisol Alcantara.

The place in question is a four-story, three-apartment building at 529 West 141st Street in Washington Heights, according to the New York Post.

Diaz and Alcantara bought the house in 2002, three years after they met, court records obtained by the newspaper show.

They went their separate ways after the purchase, and Diaz and Alcantara have pretty different versions of what happened next.

While Alcantara said they had planned to “own the property together in contemplation of marriage and starting a family,” Diaz maintained that was never the plan. Diaz filed a lawsuit in 2010, asking for the property to be auctioned off.

Court papers show they couldn’t even agree on basic facts: Diaz claimed he produced $80,000 for the down payment on the $465,000 pad while Alcantara said they paid $365,000 and Diaz only contributed $60,000.

But it seems that all’s well that end’s well, and they still own the place.

Diaz told the Post he’s no longer at war with his ex. [NYP] — Miriam Hall