For the second time in a one-month span, Shoma Group CEO Masoud Shojaee is being sued for allegedly welching on a mortgage debt.
City National Bank of Florida filed a foreclosure complaint this week against Shojaee, as trustee for a trust in his name, and an entity he manages that owns a 12th floor condominium at Gables Club Tower at 60 Edgewater Drive in Coral Gables. The condo is Shojaee’s primary residence.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleges Shojaee and the entity failed to repay a $7.9 million mortgage debt when it matured in August.
Shojaee, who co-founded Coral Gables-based Shoma with his ex-wife Maria Lamas, declined to comment via a spokesperson. He is now married to Stephanie Shojaee, Shoma’s president who was recently added to the cast of Bravo TV reality series “The Real Housewives of Miami.”
Last month, an affiliate of Delaware entity Right Meow Capital sued the power couple and two trusts under Shojaee’s name for allegedly failing to repay a $10.5 million loan on a Nov. 7 maturity date. That promissory note is secured by the retail component of Shoma Village, a mixed-use project with 304 apartments in Hialeah that the Shojaees’ firm completed three years ago.
On Dec. 20, Right Meow and the Shojaees mutually agreed to dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice,” an indication that the lender and Shoma are renegotiating the loan terms, court records show. Right Meow can refile the complaint if both sides can’t reach an agreement.
In the latest complaint, City National Bank of Florida alleges Shojaee and the entity have failed to repay the loan on the condo in full after notifying him via letter on Nov. 24 of the alleged default. In 2022, City National Bank provided the entity an $8 million mortgage that Shojaee personally guaranteed, documents attached to the lawsuit show. The lender also filed a lis pendens, which prevents the three-bedroom condo from being sold while the lawsuit is pending.
The lenders’ lawsuits are just the latest troubles for Shoma. In November, the condo association for Ten30, a boutique condominium with 33 units in Miami Beach built by Shoma, sued the developer for alleged construction defects.
In August, attorneys representing Shojaee’s daughters in a pending lawsuit against another entity he manages grilled him about hundreds of thousands of dollars that were moved in and out of corporate accounts, including a $132,000 transfer from an account of a Shoma affiliate that owns a North Bay Village development site planned for a 19-story mixed-use project.
