Despite the fact they have been fighting for TWO YEARS, the drama between The Real Housewives of New York City’s Bethenny Frankel and her former husband, Jason Hoppy, continues.
It is a well known fact that Bethenny Frankel is p*ssed at Hoppy because he still lives in the Tribeca apartment they once shared.
Bethenny was ordered to pay Jason over $ 100,000. And if you thought that was complicated, just wait until you hear this mess.
But according to Radar Online, newly filed court documents state Frankel believes Hoppy “duped” her into signing the documents that have allowed him to occupy the apartment.
And there is a claim someone may have forged her signature!!
In 2011, Frankel and Hoppy purchased the apartment through a trust. However, the court documents state that Frankel “claims that she executed the trust agreement without understanding it.”
Additionally, it says, “Specifically, she claims that when she signed, she believed, based on her communication with her husband, that the trust ‘was only to maintain privacy given her public recognition and that [the husband] would only be managing the property for her benefit.'”
“She never read the trust agreement before signing it, and does not recall ever being shown any part of it except for the signature page,” the documents state.
Considering Bethenny Frankel is a savvy business woman who made her own way to fame and fortune, we are surprised. Who doesn’t read a contract before they sign it????
The court documents also states, “it is also undisputed that neither [Bethenny], [Jason], nor the trustee was ever present in the office.”
Even more, other documents that Frankel and Hoppy signed as part of the purchase are “unenforceable and invalid,” according to the court filings.
And who could possibly be to blame??? Jason’s mother.
This is some shady sh*t.
Hoppy’s mom is a notary in Pennsylvania. Her stamp and signature appear on some of the documents.
The documents claim “that she is a ‘notary public in and for the State of New York.”
But Frankel says this isn’t true: Frankel “claims, and [Hoppy] does not deny, that neither party” went to Pennsylvania to sign the forms.
Now, Frankel “questions whether the signature purporting to be hers … is in fact hers at all, [a claim which] the husband does not deny …”
There’s a long and complicated history when it comes to this apartment. And this new information isn’t making the situation easier.
Frankel and Hoppy purchased the apartment on August 18, 2011 using a $ 2.3 million loan and $ 2.7 million from Frankel’s account. Frankel claims she took out the loan.
On November 28, 2011, Hoppy become the sole successor trustee of the trust. Apparently, this was for privacy reasons.
But because he assumed the role of the sole successor, he has the right to stay in the apartment.
In the court papers, Frankel insists Hoppy “duped her into executing the trust agreement, in order to make the apartment joint property under the prenuptial.”
And she “alleges that the apartment was purchased with her separate property, and seeks an award of the apartment to her on that basis.”
If this wasn’t complicated enough, on May 4, a judge ruled that “it is undisputed that the signatures of the parties … were not acknowledged in the presence of the person claiming to have acknowledged those signatures. It is also undisputed that the power of attorneys were not even signed in the state where the notary public was credentialed, Pennsylvania.”
The judge said, “Contrary to [Jason’s] argument, the trust agreement is a matrimonial agreement, since it was made between spouses and purports to govern property ownership as between them. Accordingly the trust agreement is subject to strict formality requirements.”
“Where no valid trust was created by reason of failure to comply with the formalities … any transfer into or out of the putative trust is null and void. Accordingly the transfer of the apartment into the trust was null and void,” he continued.
“The deed must be reformed in order to reflect the proper identity of the purchase, since the trust never existed, and cannot therefore have taken title to the apartment.”
Frankel and Hoppy now have to re-file their motions as necessary.
Something tells me, we might have two more years of reporting about this…
http://ce.ivyrc.com/bethenny-frankel-tricked-into-giving-jason-hoppy-the-apartment/