Partners dispute blame for default on $3m Mahopac development loan

[ad_1]

The estate of deceased Scarsdale property developer Howard N. Blitman says a partner failed to repay a bank loan.

Robin Winter, the executor and daughter of Mr. Blitman, is seeking $2,023,179 from Gary S. Peresiper and his MPI Development Inc., in a lawsuit filed Dec. 12 in Westchester Supreme Court.

But Peresiper, of Montvale, New Jersey, said Winter may owe him money once all transactions are disclosed.

“I look forward to my day in court,” he said in a brief phone interview, “to prove that there is no liability on my part.”

The dispute involves $3 million that Blitman Mahopac LLC borrowed from Tompkins Mahopac Bank in 2019. Howard Blitman, Peresiper and MPI each guaranteed the loan, according to the complaint.

Blitman Development Corp. and its subsidiaries have been building homes in the tri-state area for three decades. Peresiper, a CPA, provided part-time in-house accounting services and held a minority stake in some projects. He also runs an accounting firm.

The Blitman Mahopac loan was for the development of Random Ridge, a 29-home housing estate in Mahaopac, according to Peresiper.

Last September, the bank issued a notice of default and demanded $3,034,768 from the promoter.

Howard Blitman had died of Covid-19 in January 2021, aged 94. Her estate became one of the guarantors for the loan, the complaint states, and she repaid the entire loan.

Then the estate demanded that Peresiper and MPI pay their share of the debt, according to the complaint, and they failed to do so.

But according to Peresiper, Howard Blitman had put Winter in charge of the company before his death. And in early 2020, Peresiper resigned from the company for health reasons and no longer had anything to do with the Random Ridge project.

He said various loans were taken out to build homes in Random Ridge.

A few months ago, he discovered that the $3 million loan had not been repaid.

“I have no idea where the money went and no idea what happened,” he said.

“Generally, loans are paid off when each home closes, and there have been enough closings to pay off all loans. … “Neither of the investors nor I know how the project did not generate enough income to repay this loan.”

[ad_2]