David J. Stern, known as Florida’s ex-foreclosure king, just sold his Fort Lauderdale mansion for $27.5 million — a hefty discount from what he listed it for in September.
The disbarred lawyer and his wife Jeanine Stern had listed their sprawling waterfront estate for $32 million a little over three months ago. Their home at 5 Harborage Isle Drive has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms and sits on an oversized 1.4-acre lot on the corner of a small island.
As a result of its corner perch, the home has 505 feet of water frontage. That can fit any boat up to a 300-foot megayacht.
David J. Stern
Some of the 17,036-square-foot mansion’s features include hardwood floors throughout, wide rotunda entrance with a double staircase to the second story, marble bathrooms and 24-foot windows in the central living room. Oh, and it has its own tennis court on the estate’s eastern side.
The buyer is the 888 Property Trust, which is managed by Jeffrey L. Greenberg of law firm Greenberg & Strelitz. Its true owner is unknown, though county records show the buyer didn’t take out any financing. That means he or she paid $1,614 per square foot in cash.
Dennis Stevick, Michelle Sorrentino and Dale Atkins of One Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing.
David J. Stern was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court last year for his Plantation-based firm’s alleged misconduct. The company at one time had a caseload of 200,000 foreclosures statewide, swelling Stern’s practice to 1,200 employees during its peak.
Earlier this year, he was hit with a $2 million lawsuit over unpaid debts to a process serving company that worked with Stern’s firm during its heyday.