The judge said the Giudices' alleged defense 'are meant only to delay the proceedings'
Joe and Teresa Giudice's gilded Montville Township mansion is almost as much a character on "Real Housewives of New Jersey" as the reality TV stars themselves -- but for how much longer?
Joe and his four daughters continue to live in the mansion while Teresa is in federal prison, and they taped their three-part Bravo special "Real Housewives of New Jersey: Teresa Checks In" there. But a Superior Court judge in Morris County has rejected the couple's attempt to contest foreclosure on the over-the-top home and granted summary judgment in favor of the mortgage holders, Community Bank of Bergen County.
"Even a cursory examination of the Answer shows that Defendants' denials and alleged defense have no basis in fact or law and are meant only to delay the proceedings," Judge Stephan C. Hansbury wrote in his decision to move the matter forward as uncontested, according to court records obtained by NJ Advance Media.
PHOTOS: Joe and Teresa Giudice's Manahawkin home sold back to bank
Last week, lawyers for their mortgage holder filed a request for final judgment in the matter, which would kick start the process for a sheriff's sale. That could be months away, however.
The bank claimed that the couple defaulted on their mortgage on Dec. 1, 2014 by failing to pay their $10,679 monthly note. But the couple can still "cure" their default -- make their loan current -- until final judgment is entered.
Joe and Teresa Giudice of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" leave the federal courthouse in Newark in 2013. The Giudices put the Montville home -- and the two others they owned at the time -- on the market last year in the weeks leading up to their sentencing in U.S. District Court in Newark for bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. (Teresa got 15 months in federal prison and will be released to home confinement in December; Joe starts a 41-month sentence next year.)
They were originally asking $3.99 million for the mansion, in the Towaco section of Montville Township, but dropped the price to $2.99 million in April just as Community Bank began foreclosure proceedings.
The couple already lost their Manahawkin summer house, which was foreclosed upon earlier this year and sold back to the bank for the minimum $100 bid at an Ocean County sheriff's sale in August. Their Lincoln Park home, which had been used as a rental but had been listed for sale for $179,900, is also in the foreclosure process, according to court records.
"Real Housewives of New Jersey: Teresa Checks In" debuts Sunday at 8 p.m. on Bravo.
Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.
We'll be recapping the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" special every Sunday night. In the meantime, check out our new podcast TV Hangover, where TV critic Vicki Hyman and TV super fan Erin Medley take on the biggest TV news of the week, discuss the return of old favorites and face off about new shows.
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