2 involuntary bankrupties filed in attempt to halt $17M Elmhurst foreclosure auction

Plaintiffs including purported condominium contract vendees filed two involuntary bankruptcy actions in an effort to stop a $17 million foreclosure auction set for this morning to sell Tu Kang Yang’s stalled condo project at 81-05 Queens Boulevard, in Elmhurst, Queens. The debt holder is an affiliate of KMR Equity Partners, which bought the debt from Maxim Capital Group in February 2022. Records related to the debt holder entity, Queens 8105 Lender LLC, identified Kamran Yaghoubzadeb, a principal with KMR Equity Group, as the filer of the LLC.
Maxim filed a $8.5 million pre-foreclosure action in September 2021 at the project.

A court-appointed referee from the law firm Camporeale Law Group set the sale date for July 21, 2023 at the Queens County Courthouse. The referee states the approximate amount of the lien is $17.38 million.

State Court case 720909/2021
Bankruptcy #1 1-23-42548-nhl Three plaintiffs including a lender alleging a debt of $4.15 million and two condo contract vendees with down payments of $200,000 and $232,300.
Bankruptcy #2 1-23-42552-jmm $2.1 million, six plaintiffs alleging unreturned down payments of approximately $300,000 each.

According to a plaintiff in the second bankruptcy, Hong Ying, “I am owed in excess of $300,000 by Dongan regarding monies which I deposited with a related company for the purchase of a condominium at 81-05 Queens Boulevard, Elmhurst New York 11373. Dongan has refused to complete the real estate transaction and will not return any of the monies to me.”

According to a letter submitted from the attorney representing the lender in the state court case, the bankruptcy filing (it does not distinguish between them) is “fraudulent.”

“The letter is false and misleading to the Court. The letter states that Dongan filed for Bankruptcy protection (as if to say it was a voluntary filing by Dongan). This is false; Dongan did not file for Bankruptcy, instead an involuntary petition was filed by purported creditors in a clear attempt to commit fraud upon the Court to hinder the auction sale in this foreclosure action (the “Fraudulent Petition”). However, Dongan sold and transferred its ownership in the subject premises to a third-party prior to the filing of the Fraudulent Petition, and as such, the automatic stay is not applicable. The auction in this foreclosure action will proceed as scheduled on July 21, 2023, pursuant to the Notice of Sale. Further, this office is in receipt of correspondence from different counsel representing Dongan and its principal, Tu Kang Yang, consenting to the auction proceeding as scheduled.”

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.