Meyer Chetrit is suing the lender on a New Jersey mixed-use property after he defaulted on the $54 million mortgage.
Australia-based Computershare Trust Company slapped the Chetrit Group principal with a foreclosure lawsuit in May over the loan for a 291,000-square-foot office and apartment building at 2 Executive Drive in Fort Lee.
Chetrit sued the lender back, alleging Computershare mismanaged funds and allowed the building to fall into disrepair.
Chetrit is demanding “no less than $250 million” in damages plus attorney fees and other costs. An attorney for Computershare did not immediately respond to a request for comment – but the lender alleges in the foreclosure that the poor conditions at the nine-story building are Chetrit’s fault.
Chetrit bought the nine-story property in 2008 for $86 million and redeveloped it. He took out a $54 million mortgage last year from Starwood Mortgage Capital. A few months later, another Starwood entity signed over the loan to Computershare, which “went beyond an ordinary creditor-relationship” by becoming the landlord of the building, according to the suit.
Computershare breached the loan agreement by failing to distribute money earmarked for repairs, the suit alleges. The property fell into disrepair and is now subject to more than a dozen mechanics liens and code violations, and is behind by hundreds of thousands of dollars on utilities. The lender also withheld $350,000 in insurance proceeds, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges the lender orchestrated a “self-help maneuver” to force a default.
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Chetrit stopped making loan payments in August 2023, according to the foreclosure lawsuit. Chetrit also stopped paying the utilities at the property and failed to make required repairs, the suit says.
As of May, Chetrit owed $62.6 million on the loan, which was transferred to special servicing, according to Traded.