Judge gives Homsi 30 days to pay or he could potentially lose his house

A Superior Court judge has told Richard Homsi that he has one month to pay more than $155,000 in fines related to his 10-year-long legal dispute with the Governor’s Island Club or the judge will start the process that could lead to the sale of his waterfront residence at 84 Summit Ave. in Laconia.

“Upon thorough review in all the filings in these cases, the court reiterates that the writ of execution is appropriate relief in this case,” Judge Elizabeth Leonard wrote in an order.

Asked for his reaction to the judge’s ruling Wednesday, Homsi said, “I have no comment right now. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

When Homsi last appeared before the judge for a hearing on Dec. 9, he argued that the GIC should not be allowed to touch his house on the approach to Governor’s Island because it was, he said, his principal residence. But in the ruling issued Friday, Leonard rejected that argument.

“Although the defendant insists that 84 Summit Ave. is his primary residence, the court does not agree that this is a basis for it to be exempted from a writ of execution. ... The defendant holds numerous property interests in New Hampshire and another residence in Massachusetts,” the judge wrote.

Reacting to the ruling, GIC attorney Paul Fitzgerald noted that four Superior Court judges and three state Supreme Court decisions have all ruled in favor of the GIC since it first took Homsi to court in 2012 for putting up structures on his property in violation of GIC regulations.

“I hope that Mr. Homsi now realizes that his options have played out. He has the resources to satisfy this judgment and we hope that he will do so in the next few days, and that then his matter will conclude.”

In the ruling, the judge gave Homsi 30 days to pay $155,173.66 in fines and fees. If he fails to do so within the required timeframe, then the judge will issue the writ, which would direct the Belknap County Sheriff to seize Homsi’s Summit Avenue property. It would be sold at auction and a portion of the proceeds of the sale given to the GIC to satisfy the debt. The property, with 203 feet of shore frontage on Lake Winnipesaukee, is valued at $1.98 million for tax purposes, according to city records. 

Fitzgerald said he believed the 30-day clock began ticking last Friday when Leonard issued her ruling.

Most of the money Homsi has been ordered to pay is to reimburse the GIC for legal fees it has accumulated as the result of more than 550 pleadings and numerous court hearings resulting from Homsi failing to comply with earlier court rulings.

Fitzgerald said that during this decade-long dispute, judges have issued five different awards of legal fees which now amount to more than $136,000. The balance represents $18,900 which Homsi owes the court in court-directed fines and penalties for failing to comply with prior court orders, Fitzgerald said.

The GIC initiated legal action against Homsi in June 2012, and filed two other related cases in 2015 and 2018, making it the longest currently-active civil case in Belknap Superior Court.