Homebuyers suing Hamptons property investor Michael O’Sullivan have cast a wider net in their lawsuits — pulling in a real estate agent and two attorneys who allegedly aided deals that left families struggling to keep homes they believed they had purchased years earlier.
In ongoing cases in Suffolk County Supreme Court, buyers allege the professionals conspired with O’Sullivan, making misrepresentations that led them to purchase properties already in foreclosure.
Many of those families now face foreclosure or eviction themselves. The real estate agent and both attorneys deny wrongdoing.
Here’s a closer look at the professionals named in the lawsuits and the allegations against them.
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Lourdes Alban, real estate agent
Lourdes Alban, a Hamptons real estate agent, has been accused in lawsuits of aiding property investor Michael O’Sullivan in real estate deals that left families facing foreclosure. She denies wrongdoing. Credit: TikTok/Lourdes Alban
Multiple homebuyers suing O’Sullivan allege in court documents and interviews that they trusted him because of his connection to Lourdes Alban, a Hamptons real estate agent, who, like many of the buyers, emigrated from Ecuador decades ago.
In a phone call, Alban denied working with O’Sullivan.
She said she neither listed homes for O’Sullivan nor formally represented buyers in deals with him.
Homebuyers Felipe Urgiles and Kerly Palacios named Alban as a defendant in a June lawsuit, alleging she conspired with O’Sullivan to defraud them in the purchase of two homes — one for themselves and another for Palacios’ mother. They bought the homes in 2022 for $575,000 and $425,000, respectively, and say they were unaware of pending foreclosures on the homes, according to their lawsuit.
Palacios’ mother’s house was later sold at auction. Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Linda Kevins halted her eviction with a temporary restraining order effective through Aug. 27.
Another buyer, Juan Amon, said in an interview he believed he didn’t need an attorney to represent him because of assurances from Alban, who accompanied him to a May 2021 meeting with O’Sullivan, where he agreed to buy an $800,000 house.
Michael O’Sullivan leaves Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead, followed by attorney Ivan Young. Both face lawsuits alleging fraud, which they deny. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
An LLC owned by O’Sullivan later purchased the house at auction and has filed to evict Amon. Last week, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Peter McGreevy halted the eviction while Attorney General Letitia James’ office investigates O’Sullivan.
At the time of the 2022 property sales, Alban was an agent at Saunders & Associates. The brokerage declined to comment.
Alban is now an agent at Nest Seekers International in Bridgehampton. Geoff Gifkins, Nest Seekers’ regional manager for the Hamptons, said while she was not with the brokerage at the time of the sale, the company is looking into the matter.
“We are reviewing the situation and gathering the facts before we rush to judgement,” he said in an email.
Ivan Young, attorney
Young has been sued for fraud in four active cases against O’Sullivan. In two of the cases, involving homebuyers Juan Marquina and Mauricio Ocampo, Suffolk County Supreme Court justices have granted homebuyers default judgement against Young after Young failed to respond to the lawsuits.
O’Sullivan enlisted Young to help him battle lenders through the foreclosure process. Young had previously helped several Long Island homeowners win title to their homes by arguing lenders had failed to meet the statute of limitations in their foreclosure filings.
Young said he did not commit fraud when he worked with O’Sullivan.
“Michael O’Sullivan is a longtime client of mine, and I represent him,” Young told Newsday after a hearing at the Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead in July. “That doesn’t mean I’m guilty of anything.”
William Grausso, attorney
Attorney William Grausso walks to Suffolk County Supreme Court in Riverhead on July 22. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Grausso, a Bohemia-based attorney, is a defendant in four active cases, with homebuyers alleging he conspired with O’Sullivan to commit fraud.
Grausso told Newsday that he drafted contracts for the deals but provided forms disclosing to buyers they were purchasing subject to any liens or encumbrances. He said he provided title documents that included ownership and mortgage histories for the properties.
Grausso said he did not defraud or make misrepresentations to any of the homebuyers.
“The transactions did not play out the way they expected,” Grausso said in an interview, “but at the base of each of them, everything was disclosed.”
Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain’s New York Business.