Armand Assante petitions judge to halt house auction

Actor Armand Assante has petitioned a judge to issue a restraining order against bank bosses to halt a planned foreclosure auction on his New York home. On Wednesday (05Mar14), the Judge Dredd star’s lawyers argued Assante was a victim of predatory mortgage lending and he should be able to keep the home.
He tells the New York Post, “It’s my home. It’s something I built with my father. It’s the legacy I want to leave to my children.”
Assante purchased the 222-acre horse farm in 2005 for $1.5 million (£937,500) with a 10 per cent interest rate – nearly double the U.S. national average, according to the New York Post.
In 2012, a judge, who was handling Assante’s bankruptcy, approved a request to allow him to sell 100 acres of the property, but a deal was never struck.
The actor’s lawyer also argued he offered up various other settlements, but executives at Eastern Savings Bank turned them down and Assante is convinced they just want to take over the property.
He says, “I wasn’t targeted because I’m a celebrity. I was targeted because I have an equity-rich property.
“I have fought nine years to expose what Eastern has done, and it has almost broken me. Through God’s grace, and the courage of those in the state and federal courts to work against injustice, I will be vindicated.”
The foreclosure auction in May (14) is the latest financial blow to the actor – he has filed for bankruptcy twice since 2011.