Beleaguered RFR principal Michael Fuchs is facing more trouble from a short-changed lender.
HSBC, which provided £15 million (~$20.1 million) to Fuchs to help pay for his multimillion-dollar divorce settlement, claims Fuchs failed to pay off the loan when it came due in December. The London-based bank filed a motion for a summary judgment against Fuchs and a limited liability company tied to his estate in Southampton, which guaranteed the loan. It is demanding just over $20 million in unpaid principal plus interest, according to the filing in state Supreme Court.
The London-based bank claims Fuchs inked a guarantee, making 809 Meadow Lane LLC liable for the debt if he failed to repay it. But a deed filed in Suffolk County shows that the Southampton property was sold on July 9 for $26 million, likely making the LLC worthless.
The loan included a trigger clause stating that in the event of a sale of the property, Fuchs would be required to repay the loan, according to court documents. Fuchs has only repaid £500,000 (~$671,000) on the loan, leaving the LLC in default, the bank alleges.
A lawyer for HSBC and a Fuchs spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fuchs and his ex-wife Alvina Collardeau have been locked in a nasty five-year divorce battle. In 2023, a judge ordered Fuchs to pay Collardeau a lump sum of almost £19 million, about $25 million, plus periodic payments for their two children.
Fuchs is also in default on those payments, according to the British newspaper The Times, and had been ordered to sell various assets and four properties in England. Meanwhile, Fuchs is facing foreclosure on his West Village condo after he stopped making monthly payments on a $3.26 million mortgage from Citibank.
Fuchs recently unloaded one New York City property — a townhouse at 144 Waverly Place — and listed a prewar brick building at 59 Morton Street in Greenwich Village. He listed the 4,600-square-foot Southampton home in March for $44 million.
Fuchs bought the Southampton house for $14.5 million in 2006 and took out mortgages on the property totaling $13 million, according to property records.
Fuchs, a passionate art collector who shies away from the limelight, formed RFR in 1991 with his childhood friend, Aby Rosen. The two grew up together in Frankfurt, Germany, before separately moving to New York. RFR oversees about $10 billion of real estate worldwide and has expanded into Las Vegas, Miami and Germany.
In 2022, Fuchs listed his net worth in court papers at $1.7 billion. The HSBC loan agreement said Fuchs must maintain a net worth above $1.5 billion at all times, according to the filing.
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