Charles Cohen Reignites Fortress Fight In Bid For Damages

Not even weeks after closing the chapter on a $187 million debt to Fortress Investment Group, Charles Cohen is looking to write the next story in the epic lender-borrower battle.

In response to a legal filing from Fortress in their ongoing fight, an attorney for Cohen penned a letter referencing a lawsuit that sees Cohen pursuing $204 million in damages from Fortress, Crain’s reported. The damages purportedly stem from a foreclosure auction involving four of Cohen’s former properties.

The lawsuit alleges the out-of-court auction of the properties was not conducted in a commercially reasonable manner and should have involved “different marketing strategies, different brokers, and different time frames.”

Cohen filed the lawsuit a year ago, alleging that Fortress acquired the portfolio for $150 million, or $85 million below the lender’s internal valuation. The filing has recently become relevant as Cohen claims he needed to raise more money to resolve his debt with Fortress because it bought the properties at auction for less than what it may have traded for in a more transparent process.

Fortress denied Cohen’s allegations in legal filings.

Earlier this month, Cohen’s debt to Fortress seemed largely like water under the bridge. He satisfied the $187 million in liabilities after the creditor pursued him for guarantees related to defaults on a $534 million loan portfolio.

The fight dated back to 2022, when borrowers connected to Cohen took out more than $500 million, with him signing a guaranty agreement on the transaction. Fortress sued in 2024 and Cohen ultimately lost the properties that backed the original portfolio later that year, when Fortress took them in what was among the largest UCC foreclosures of all time.

An appellate court decided in Fortress’s favor in February 2025, and a lower court entered the $187 million judgment one month later.

The lender then accused Cohen of shielding his assets; Cohen declared he was working hard to satisfy the debt. A receiver for Cohen’s ownership interests was appointed by the court this past March.

The dispute and eventual judgment against Cohen led him to sell several Manhattan towers. Fortress, however, said it was not done with Cohen and will keep pursuing other claims against him, potentially leading to other judgments.

— Holden Walter-Warner