$45M Foreclosure Suit Adds To Fallout After Sergio Pino's Death
A lender is seeking to foreclose on an apartment building developed by the late Sergio Pino, claiming his estate fell behind on debt payments a month after the developer's death.
Pino, the founder of Century Homebuilders Group, killed himself in July after police said they uncovered his plan to murder his wife.
Lument, a subsidiary of Japanese insurance and finance firm Orix, filed the foreclosure suit Thursday over a $49.5M mortgage covering the 850 Living apartments at 811 NW 43rd Ave., just south of Miami International Airport.
The lender alleged that Century Homebuilders, through its affiliate Century Gables View Multifamily LLC, stopped making payments on the mortgage in August and transferred ownership of the property in violation of the mortgage agreement's terms.
Attorneys for Lument are seeking the immediate payment of $45.4M to cover the loan’s outstanding balance, plus any unpaid interest and other fees related to the default. The lender also asked a Miami-Dade Circuit judge to appoint a receiver to take over operations of the apartment building.
The mortgage was set to mature on Dec. 6, according to the suit, which was flagged by property intelligence platform Vizzda.
Attorneys from Miami-based Squire Patton Boggs representing Lument and a lawyer for Pino’s estate from Schlesinger Law Group didn’t respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the lender declined Bisnow’s request for comment.
A person involved in Pino’s estate told Bisnow that Century Homebuilders is close to selling the property at a price that would allow it to repay the Lument mortgage. Multiple prospective buyers are involved in negotiations, the person said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. The sale is expected to close before the end of the year.
The six-story 850 Living building has 230 units and an attached parking garage. Pino's firm developed it, along with two five-story office buildings, as part of a mixed-use project dubbed 850 Le Jeune in a joint venture with Pactia USA, The Real Deal reported in 2018. The apartments run from studios to three bedrooms and are listed online for between about $2,100 and $3,100 per month.
The suit says Pino failed to notify the lender that he had transferred his interest in the entity that owned the apartments to a new entity that was also an indirect owner of the original sponsor, a violation of the loan’s terms.
That transfer occurred on March 11, but the lender first received notice of the move on Aug. 15, following Pino’s death, according to the suit.
The millionaire businessman, whose firm built more than 15,000 homes across South Florida, was found dead on July 16 by a SWAT team that had entered his Coral Gables home to arrest him for attempting to have his wife, Tatiana Pino, killed.
It was the culmination of an FBI investigation into allegations that Sergio Pino had tried to poison Tatiana Pino and had hired two different crews to kill her after she filed for divorce in April 2022, the Miami Herald reported.
In one August 2023 incident, a Home Depot trailer rammed Tatiana Pino’s car, according to a video obtained by the Miami Herald. Three vehicles at her sister’s house have been set ablaze in apparent arsons.
Lument claims Pino violated the mortgage terms by failing to disclose to the lender that he was under investigation for potentially trying to have his wife murdered.
Since Sergio Pino’s death, his brother, Carlos Pino, has been locked in an extended court battle with Tatiana Pino over control of Century Homebuilders and its assets.
Tatiana Pino has claimed to be the sole surviving owner listed on key documents for the company despite having little involvement in the firm’s day-to-day operations. Carlos Pino has produced a will naming him the estate’s executor.
Arguments in the case are ongoing, with hearings being held this week.
