NY Attorney Sues Bank Over “Manic” Cape Cod Home Purchase

A retired New York attorney sued to get out of his mortgage on a $5.5 million Cape Cod home, blaming the bank that lent him money to buy the property while he was in “manic psychosis.”

John Bonomi Jr. filed a federal lawsuit in New York’s Southern District against JPMorgan Chase Bank, alleging that the bank shouldn’t have issued him the loan for the since-demolished house at 1440 Chequessett Neck Road in Wellfleet, the Boston Globe reported.

Bonomi, who claims to suffer from bipolar disorder, is looking to follow New York’s legal precedent for allowing a mental health condition to be the basis for invalidating a contract.

“No rational person … would have considered purchasing the Property, and certainly not at the full asking price,” he claims in the complaint, filed in October.

Bonomi seeks to void the mortgage and note for $3.85 million, plus interest and damages and attorney’s fees. He is seeking a jury trial.

The 5,150-square-foot shingled house was built in 2010 by Mark and Barbara Blasch on a coastal bank within the Cape Cod National Seashore. The controversial house on a narrow strip between Cape Cod Bay and Wellfleet Harbor had been opposed by the National Park Service.

Bonomi bought the 12-room house in late 2021 for $5.5 million. That same year, Wellfleet assessed its property value at more than $4.38 million.

Stormy seas, however, soon ate into the dunes below, threatening the home. The house was demolished in February of last year, with the value of the land re-assessed at $385,000

In his lawsuit, Bonami seems to suggest he’d been enticed to buy the perfect beach house. In an attempt to show how “seductive” the house was, Bonomi’s legal filing includes a link to a marketing video showing airy interiors and windswept dunes set to classical music.

“Plaintiff was acting under an uncontrollable manic psychosis at the time he entered into the Mortgage and Note,” the suit reads. “It is a recognized diagnostic fact that a symptom of bipolar disorder is irrational risk-taking and impulsive behavior, including reckless spending.”

The bank, Bonomi alleges, should have known better. “Defendant was aware, or willfully avoided acknowledging, that Plaintiff was not at that time competent to enter into the Mortgage and Note.”

In May, JPMorgan Chase answered Bonomi’s complaint. “To the extent a response is required,” it read, “Chase denies the allegations contained therein and leaves Plaintiff to his proofs.”

Thomas Moore, Bonomi’s attorney, declined to add to what was outlined in the complaint.

– Dana Bartholomew