By Mark Mueller | Orange County Business Journal
Newport Beach-based luxury real estate agent John McMonigle has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to court records.
McMonigle, whose McMonigle Group Inc. is one of the country’s top-selling brokerages for high-end homes, listed debts of between $50 million and $100 million on the individual petition, which was filed Friday in Santa Ana’s bankruptcy court.
The petition lists McMonigle having between $1 million and $10 million in assets.
He’s being represented by Costa Mesa’s Nicastro Piscopo in the case, according to court records.
The bankruptcy filing comes a little more than a week after McMonigle’s wife, Robin McMonigle, filed for divorce, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
In a statement provided to the Orange County Register, which first broke the news of the bankruptcy, McMonigle cited “an ongoing stalemate with uncooperative lenders” in ventures unrelated to his core brokerage business as the reason for the filing.
Last August, the Business Journal reported on construction being halted at Villa del Lago, a 12.5-acre estate being built by McMonigle in Newport Coast, because of loan issues. The estate currently has a $37 million price tag, down from an early $57 million asking price.
In November, lenders sued McMonigle for defaulting on a $3 million loan secured by his company’s Newport Center headquarters.
The McMonigle Group Inc., which did not file for bankruptcy, will continue normal operations, according to the agent’s statement to the Register.
