In one of the shortest lived foreclosure actions, City National Bank of Florida resolved a loan dispute with developer Masoud Shojaee in less than a month.
On Jan. 24, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez approved the Miami-based bank’s motion to dismiss its lawsuit. Three weeks earlier, City National filed the complaint against Shojaee and an entity he manages that owns his home, a two-bedroom condo at Gables Club Tower at 60 Edgewater Drive in Coral Gables.
“The matter was amicably resolved between the parties.” a spokesperson for Shojaee said via email.
Shojaee and his wife, Stephanie Shojaee, lead Coral Gables-based Shoma, a firm that has completed more than $6 billion in real estate deals since its founding in 1985, the company’s website states. Shojaee co-founded Shoma with his ex-wife, Maria Lamas.
The Jan. 6 complaint alleged Shojaee and the entity failed to repay a $7.9 million mortgage secured by the condo when it matured in August. Shojaee previously told The Real Deal that he and his companies have “never missed a payment for any of the loans” with the bank.
City National appeared to move aggressively against Shojaee, court records show. On Jan. 17, the bank filed an amended complaint claiming that Shojaee’s alleged default on the condo loan triggered automatic defaults on two other loans totaling $6.2 million secured by another Shoma-owned property.
Seven days later, the bank and Shojaee reached a private settlement, court records show. On Jan. 30, City National filed documents with the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts showing the loans have been reinstated.
In December, another lender quickly resolved an allegedly delinquent $10.5 million loan secured by the retail component of Shoma Village, a Hialeah mixed-use project Shoma built in 2022. An affiliate of Delaware entity Right Meow Capital voluntarily dismissed its foreclosure lawsuit against Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee within two weeks of filing the Dec. 10 complaint.
The Shojaees’ firm is currently developing Shoma Bay, a 19-story mixed-use project in North Bay Village that will have 327 condos, a 36,000-square-foot Publix store, a 6,300-square-foot rooftop lounge and a Shoma Bazaar food hall.