Armand Assante in desperate bid to stop foreclosure on his $3.5m horse farm and claims he's a victim of predatory lending
- The 64-year-old star of 'Judge Dredd' wants to prevent his Campbell Hall, New York, estate from being auctioned off in May
- Blames Eastern Savings Bank of using fraudulent methods to increase his interest rate
- Divorced father of two filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011
- Karen Assante, the actor's ex-wife, sued him for $1.8million in unpaid matrimonial support
Star-crossed actor: Armand Assante, 64, appeared in court in an effort to save his Orange, County, New York, estate from foreclosure
Actor Armand Assante was in a New York court this week in a last-ditch attempt to save his rustic mansion from foreclosure.
The 64-year-old star of the original 'Judge Dredd' appeared in the state Supreme Court in Goshen with his legal team Wednesday, asking a judge for a temporary restraining order to prevent his Campbell Hall horse farm from being auctioned off in May.
Assante's attorney Tom Vlasti argued that the veteran film and TV star was the victim of mortgage fraud.
While the Emmy-winning actor was filming in Romania in 2005, one of his financial advisers secured a $1.5million, 30-year mortgage on his behalf from Eastern Savings Bank in Maryland at nearly 10 per cent interest - a rate double the national average.
According to the lawyer, the bank used fraudulent methods to increase the interest rate and turned down settlement offers because its goal all along was to seize the 7,000-square-foot rural estate worth $3.5million.
Rustic elegance: Assante owns this sprawling horse farm that sits on 7,000 square feet of land in Campbell Hall worth $3.5million
Family man: Assante, 64, said in court that he had built the rustic home with his father, and he wants to leave it to his two daughters (right)
‘I wasn’t targeted because I’m a celebrity,’ Assante told the New York Post's Page Six. ‘I was targeted because I have an equity-rich property.’
'The Odyssey' star, who declared bankruptcy in 2011, said he is determined to continue his nine-year battle to expose the bank's alleged malfeasance.
Assante, a divorced father of two, said he had built the sprawling estate sitting on a large tract on land in Orange County, New York, with his late father, and he wants to leave it as a legacy to his two daughters, Anya and Alesandra.
Assante’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing from 2011 stated that he owed $12,138 to the Screen Actors’ Guild’s credit union and $36,574 for unpaid taxes for 2006, 2007 and 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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To add to the actor's apparent financial troubles, his former spouse of 12 years, Karen Assante, sued him in 2012 claiming that he owed her $1.8million in unpaid matrimonial support, according to The Record Online.
Ugly feud: The actor's ex-wife, Karen Assante (pictured), sued him in 2012, claiming that he owed her $1.8million in unpaid matrimonial support
According to the terms of the couple's divorce finalized in 1997, Mr Assante was required to pay his ex-wife $15,000 a month until she turns 59 and a half years old. She is currently 53.
According to his IMDB page, the screen star has nearly a dozen projects currently in the pipeline.
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