The self-proclaimed ‘billionaire’ Silvio Scaglia failed in his attempt to have his ex-wife, Julia Haart, star of Netflix reality show My Unorthodox Life, thrown out of the luxurious Manhattan apartment that was once their marital home, DailyMail.com can reveal.
In an affidavit filed earlier this year, the fashion designer claimed that Scaglia, 64, had “cried poverty” in an attempt to drive her out of the $70 million Tribeca penthouse.
Scaglia had tried to force the sale of the property on the grounds that Elite World Group (EWG), the company he and Haart, 52, once built and ran together, was in such “distress” that its future depended the release of those funds.
Haart hit back accusing him of “emptying the coffers” with “very reckless spending.”
Now, in a court ruling handed down Tuesday in New York Supreme Court and obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, Haart has won her fight to stay in her home.
Silvio Scaglia has sought to evict his ex-wife Julia Haart from the $70 million penthouse they once shared in Tribeca. She is photographed in the apartment.
The 7,800-square-foot Lower Manhattan apartment is located in the luxurious Vestry Building and is featured heavily in both seasons of Haart’s hit Netflix show, My Unorthodox Life.
Scaglia had claimed the apartment needed to be sold to support his Elite World Group modeling agency and its parent company Freedom, which he says is facing “financial difficulties”.
Scaglia lost his offer to put the apartment on the market or make her pay the monthly costs, which he puts at about $170,000.
In issuing his ruling, Judge Douglas Hoffman noted that the former couple, who were married for only two years, have filed dozens of motions and many cross-motions in this action alone, one of several currently being fought in both New York and in Delaware.
He stated that the court has “urged the parties to ease the pressure on the ‘scorched earth’ method of litigation in a short-term marriage and to meaningfully consider a settlement,” but conceded that “neither party seems inclined to conclude the various disputes”. ‘.
Since the court granted Haart “exclusive use and occupancy” of the property last year, Scaglia had filed numerous motions to sell or lease the apartment, several of which have been denied.
In his latest failed attempt, he argued that there was “imminent urgency” in his claims about the residence and “that foreclosure may be possible.”
Scaglia claimed she has been unable to refinance the property’s $33 million mortgage in the past year due to Haart’s lawsuits and public claims against her, as well as the fact that she still lives there.
He added that the apartment was declining in value and needed to be sold in part to support EWG and its majority-Scaglia-owned parent company, Freedom, which he said is “facing financial difficulties.”
But in his decision, Judge Hoffman noted that such factors are not “the standard in a matrimonial action” to allow the sale of a marital home over the objection of the resident spouse during the pretrial divorce period.
Scaglia, 64, was seeking to force the sale of his $70 million Tribeca penthouse overlooking the Hudson River, where Haart currently lives.
He was demanding that the apartment be put up for sale or that Haart pay the monthly maintenance costs, which he put at close to $170,000.
The legal battle is one of several disputes Haart and Scaglia have been locked in since their acrimonious separation last year after two years of marriage.
“That standard, as previously stated in numerous previous motions, is ‘imminent danger of dissipation’ or if necessary to preserve marital property in danger of loss,” the judge added.
The ruling also noted that Scaglia had tried to evict his wife without submitting financial information showing that the two “could no longer maintain the apartment and there is an imminent risk of loss of this asset.”
‘Here, there is no Statement of Net Worth filed by the Husband in this motion, and there is no allegation other than that maintenance costs continue to be paid on time.
‘There is simply no record submitted by the promoters that would allow [sale of the home] in these current documents without violating the Domestic Relations Act and related cases,’ the documents state.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Haart’s divorce lawyers Nancy Chemtob and Michael Beyda praised the ruling, saying: “Julia Haart has finally been vindicated by Judge Hoffman’s very well thought out decision denying Mr. Scaglia to evict his wife from their $70 million.” department.
‘EM. Haart can now sleep peacefully in the marital apartment without her husband’s spiteful desire to evict her while this high-conflict divorce is still pending.
Haart starred in the popular Netflix series last year, which focused on her rise in the fashion industry after leaving her strict religious home at age 42.
The 7,800-square-foot Lower Manhattan apartment is located in the luxurious Vestry Building and is featured heavily in both seasons of Haart’s hit Netflix show.
He is worth an estimated $70 million and has monthly rental income in the region of $170,000.
Scaglia attempted to put it on the market, both for sale and for rent, last year, prompting Haart to challenge his authority to do so in a battle he has now won.
The property was purchased for $55 million in December 2018 and approximately $5 million was invested in custom renovating it.
According to Scaglia’s files, there is a $33 million mortgage on the apartment which he claims is filled with valuable artwork, furniture, silverware and cutlery that he values in the $3 million range.
The court noted that it has never provided an inventory to support this claim.
The new ruling is a boost for Haart after her libel suit brought against her husband was thrown out just two weeks ago when the court found she had “proven no actual malice” after she accused him of orchestrating a smear campaign on her against in the wake of his failed marriage.
Days after being caught off guard by wanting to divorce her husband, Haart found herself ousted from Elite World Group, the modeling agency and business she had helped it grow.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com lawyer Haart after the libel decision, Martin Singer revealed his client’s intention to appeal and was confident that the appeals court ‘will see things differently and decide in [her] favor’.
He said: “We strongly disagree with and are disappointed in the ruling, especially given the factual and legal support for Julia Haart’s claims that was brought before the court.”
Scaglia and Haart have been embroiled in a series of increasingly torturous legal battles since their separation in February last year, when Scaglia surprised Haart by filing for divorce.
In the weeks that followed, Haart found herself ousted from Elite World Group, the modeling agency and business she had helped grow.
The businesswoman has always maintained that EWG, of which she was once the executive director, are together.
But since February 2022, the former couple have been embroiled in at least five other lawsuits in New York and Delaware.
One is a contested matrimonial lawsuit, another concerns more than $850,000 of company funds that Scaglia alleges Haart misappropriated.