Just weeks after Nir Meir left HFZ Capital Group, he is facing the prospect of getting booted from his Southampton home.
The LLC that owns the property at 40 Meadow Lane filed a complaint in Suffolk County Supreme Court Tuesday alleging that Meir is living there without the owner’s consent. A source familiar with the matter said HFZ had owned the property but later transferred the LLC to one of its lenders, an affiliate of Monroe Capital. But an attorney for Meir said Meir controls the LLC.
Monroe was HFZ’s lender on a national industrial portfolio, and earlier this month foreclosed on HFZ’s equity stake in properties. The company also provided HFZ a $18 million loan in 2017 that was supposed to mature in November, according to Monroe’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Monroe’s entity claimed in its ejectment action that it holds the title to the property and Meir is blocking it from taking possession. The complaint said that neither Meir nor his family is allowed to lease, use or occupy the property. (Though New York State has placed a moratorium on evictions because of the pandemic, some landlords have filed ejectment actions in state Supreme Court as a workaround to booting tenants.)
A spokesperson for Meir disputed Monroe’s claims. “There is clear documentation of the true ownership and control of 40 Meadow Lane LLC, which is controlled by Nir Meir, which refutes the frivolous claims in this filing and we are in the process of filing a motion to dismiss, which will be filed in a short order,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Real Deal.
Monroe and HFZ did not respond to requests for comment.
The home is more than 6,600 square feet and features seven bedrooms and a swimming pool, records show. Last year, the owner of the property secured an $18.35 million mortgage from ConnectOne Bank.
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It’s been a choppy year for the former HFZ principal, who left the firm in December as it battled a slew of lawsuits from lenders and investors. The circumstances around Meir’s departure are not entirely clear. His spokesperson previously told TRD that Meir “remains committed to helping the company resolve outstanding issues surrounding its current projects.” A spokesperson for HFZ said Meir “is no longer with HFZ nor authorized to act on its behalf in any capacity.”
A historic cottage known as “A Wee Lyr Mor” originally sat on the site of 40 Meadow Lane. The wealthy Fulton Cutting family owned the property for decades, and listed it for $17.5 million in 2011.
An LLC registered with HFZ’s New York office purchased the property for $10.5 million in 2013, records show. The buyer then applied for a demolition permit to knock down the cottage and build a modern home, sparking pushback from neighbors and a lawsuit that temporarily stalled construction. The new home was built in 2017.
Rich Bockmann contributed reporting.