Charles Cohen Files Notice To Appeal Ruling On Personal Loan Guarantee In Fortress Lawsuit

New York real estate mogul Charles Cohen has filed a notice to appeal a New York State Supreme Court ruling in his battle with Fortress Credit Corp. that found him liable for a $187 million personal loan guarantee pending an auction of Landmark Theaters and other assets that is still scheduled for next month.

Fortress sued Cohen last spring for defaulting on a $530 million loan backed by the properties and asked the judge to force a sale, which would be one of the largest in New York real estate history under the so-called Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The court eventually agreed to Nov. 8 auction date for the assets, which, according to legal filings, also include the British arthouse chain Curzon, two hotels, a design center and an office tower.

The same judge ruled several weeks ago that Cohen was on the hook for a personal $187 million loan guarantee to Fortress pending the results of the auction.

In the latest move, Cohen this week filed a notice to appeal that decision with the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department. He has six months to file a formal appeal. That process is not expected to interfere with the auction.

Issues raised in his six-page notice include whether the Supreme Court judge should have rejected Cohen’s motion to dismiss, and whether a default actually occurred.

Cohen’s team has claimed that an exchange of emails showed the two sides had agreed to extend the loan — as they had done several times previously. But Fortress said, and the judge agreed, that the emails were not definitive or binding.

Cohen asks that the $187 liability be reversed entirely and “any other or further relief as the court deems appropriate.”

In its last statement to Deadline this summer, a representative for Cohen said that Landmark theaters were not in jeopardy and would “continue to support independent film.”