A lender to FMB Development’s Ilan Kenig claims the developer has refused to leave a home in Pacific Palisades after losing it to foreclosure.
VIG Private Lending, a hard money lender run by Vladimir Valsky, filed a lawsuit against Kenig and his wife Avivit earlier this month, claiming Kenig has refused to let the lender into the property at 1355 Berea Place to make repairs, ever since VIG foreclosed on the home.
Ilan and Avivit Kenig are “neither tenants, nor authorized occupants,” VIG said in its complaint. Ilan Kenig did not respond to a request for comment.
VIG took over the property for $627,400 in February, records show, and transferred ownership to a limited liability company called Yarden Consulting. VIG is managing the property on behalf of Yarden, the managers of which were not disclosed.
The lender is asking the court to force the Kenigs to grant VIG and Yarden access to the 7,000-square-foot home, so the lender and new owner can repair the roof and water leaks, among other items. VIG has also asked the court to award $10 million in damages.
Yarden is looking to sell the 7,600-square-foot home as quickly as possible, according to the suit. But without the repairs, it’s becoming difficult, VIG said in its complaint.
The six-bedroom home is currently on the market for $9 million, according to a Zillow listing. Neyshia Go at Sotheby’s International Realty and Tomer Fridman at Compass have the listing.
VIG’s suit is the latest iteration of litigation involving Kenig. Before the foreclosure, Kenig sued four former partners, including Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, once an adviser to high-profile New York real estate players who was convicted on bribery charges in Israel, claiming a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that left Kenig with millions in debt.
Kenig has filed for bankruptcy on at least six FMB multifamily projects across Los Angeles County, and has claimed in legal documents that “almost all” of the firm’s developments are in default.
“The ongoing structural harm caused” by the Kenigs’ refusal to allow access at 1355 Berea “has substantially diminished the market value of the premises,” the lender said in the filing.