The New York Attorney General’s Office on Thursday asked a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge to halt the eviction of an East Hampton family while the office investigates fraud allegations against a local real estate investor.
Assistant Attorney General Tashi Lhewa appeared in court Thursday in Riverhead to argue a motion to freeze the eviction of Juan Amon and his family. The hearing was part of a consolidated case in which Amon alleges that Michael O’Sullivan’s company, Hampton Dream Properties, agreed to sell him a foreclosed East Hampton home in 2020 while misrepresenting its legal status.
Newsday first reported on the allegations in the lawsuit earlier this week.
More than three years after Amon’s agreed to buy the home from O’Sullivan, a separate O’Sullivan-owned LLC, Mastic Development Properties I LLC, sought to evict Amon after purchasing the house at a bank auction in 2023, according to Amon’s lawsuit.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
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The New York attorney general is seeking to halt the eviction of an East Hampton family amid a fraud investigation involving investor Michael O’Sullivan, who wants to force the family from the home he agreed to sell them.
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At least 10 families, most of whom are Latino, allege O’Sullivan defrauded them through deceptive real estate deals.
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The judge did not rule Thursday but gave both sides until June 26 to file various motions. The eviction can’t proceed before then.
That case has been combined with one in which Mastic is seeking the court’s help to evict Amon and his family.
Amon is among at least 10 plaintiffs — the majority of whom are Latino — who allege in lawsuits filed over the past decade that O’Sullivan and Hampton Dream Properties defrauded them.
Lhewa cited a 2023 law that allows the state attorney general or local district attorneys investigating deed fraud to intervene in eviction proceedings while seeking the court order from Justice Peter R. McGreevy.
“The individual behind this all is Michael O’Sullivan based on our investigation so far,” Lhewa said during the hearing.
Attorney Ivan Young appeared in court Thursday and denied that his client Michael O’Sullivan had committed any wrongdoing. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
McGreevy did not issue a decision Thursday but set a deadline of June 26 for attorneys to file papers on several pending motions, including the attorney general’s request to freeze the eviction of Amon’s family.
Ivan Young, who represents O’Sullivan and Mastic Development Properties I LLC in the case involving Amon, defended his client’s business practices in court Thursday.
““He did not commit any fraud,” Young said.
O’Sullivan did not attend the hearing.
‘We are victims’
Amon, who emigrated from Ecuador about 18 years ago, is seeking a court order granting him title to his home in the Springs section of East Hampton Town — a legal move known as a quiet title action.
His lawsuit alleges he agreed to buy the property from O’Sullivan for $800,000 in 2020 and wants the judge to void any competing claims. Amon attended the hearing Thursday, seated in the front row behind Lhewa. Outside the courtroom, he said he hoped McGreevy would rule in his favor.
“We are victims, and it’s not only me, but we are many people who came here to fight for our dreams,” Amon said in Spanish.
Juan Amon alleges he poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into buying and renovating a home he said investor Michael O’Sullivan sold him under a cloud of deception. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Amon and Mauricio Ocampo, another plaintiff pursuing a quiet title action against O’Sullivan, told Newsday earlier this month that the alleged fraud has left them in constant fear of losing homes they believed they had purchased.
Amon said he made a down payment on the home of $300,000 and Hampton Dream Properties provided a $500,000 mortgage with monthly payments of $2,529.
He said he paid more than $70,000 in mortgage payments from August 2021 to February 2024, according to his lawsuit against O’Sullivan and Hampton Dream Properties.
He stopped making payments after discovering the home was not in his name, according to court records.
The Victorian-style house in Springs was in foreclosure when Hampton Dream Properties acquired it from the previous owner. That foreclosure concluded in November 2022, when U.S. Bank — the mortgage holder — took title to the property.
In 2023, Mastic Development Properties I LLC — which the attorney general’s office says is owned by O’Sullivan — bought the house at a bank auction for $1.16 million. Mastic then filed an eviction case in East Hampton Town Justice Court and is now seeking a Suffolk County Supreme Court order to remove Amon and his family, according to court documents.
Until McGreevy rules, Mastic and O’Sullivan cannot evict the family, said Amon’s attorney, Oscar Michelen.
“They can rest easy until there is a decision, and we’re confident that the decision will go the attorney general’s way,” he said.
Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, said her nonprofit is working with more than a dozen families who allege they were defrauded by O’Sullivan. She called Thursday’s hearing a positive step that showed the attorney general’s commitment to the issue.
Perez said she hopes it will encourage other alleged victims to come forward.
“People are going to be hearing this, and they’re going to realize that now is the time to stay strong and come forward and that there is a chance for justice,” she said.