Conn. AG Puts Kibosh On Shaky "Option To Buy" Obtained By Pair From Hospitalized Dying Woman; Deal Would Have Allowed Purchase For Less Than 50% FMV

From the Office of the Connecticut Attorney General:

• Attorney General Richard Blumenthal [...] announced that his office has successfully challenged a questionable agreement to sell the home of a deceased Greenwich woman, securing at least $300,000 more for charities named in the woman's will. [...] Probate Judge Daniel F. Caruso voided an agreement under which Mona Lee Johnson of Greenwich granted her neighbor Mark L. Lovallo and her long time accountant, David Alfano, an option to buy her home for $500,000 after her death. In fact, the home was estimated to be worth more than twice as much -- about $1.2 million -- when she died in 2005. Johnson signed the agreement at Lovallo's urging a month before she died when she was in the hospital.(1)(2)

For the entire AG's press release, see Attorney General Successfully Challenges Questionable Agreement To Sell Greenwich Home, Secures At Least $300,000 More For Charities.

(1) According to the press release, because real estate values have fallen since Johnson's death, it's unlikely the home's fair market value is still the $1.2 million estimated in 2005. In the current market, Blumenthal's office expects the house to fetch at least $800,000. It seems to me that these two characters should be hammered for the damages suffered by the estate and the beneficiaries of the will for the home's $400,000 diminution in value during the time they improperly clouded the title to the deceased woman's home with this bogus deal.

(2) Attorney General Bloomenthal said:

• "The net result in this long legal battle is at least $300,000 more for good causes, particularly educational institutions, for a total of about $1.5 million or more. I fought successfully to stop this suspect agreement denying hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities intended to benefit from the home's sale. In charity law, the donor's wishes are paramount, and this extraordinarily generous donor sought to benefit charities, not these two men. This donor never wished to sell her home at a bargain basement price, less than half its estimated value at the time, significantly slashing proceeds to charities named in her will."

• "Ill and infirm -- this woman supposedly signed papers while hospitalized and in the last month of her life -- raising grave doubt the agreement reflected her true wishes. This decision restores moneys rightfully belonging charities -- as well as charitable intentions. My office will continue to carefully monitor estates, intervening when appropriate to assure that the wishes of the deceased are respected and realized."