A Mount Vernon landlord who is facing foreclosure on a $2.93 million commercial loan she guaranteed says she should not be held responsible because she is blind.
Ann Mohini Balgobin and her business, Valentine Vamush Properties LLC, accused Loan Originations LLC of fraud, in a lawsuit filed on July 3 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“The loan transactions and guarantee were procured,” the complaint states,”
through fraud, misrepresentation, and unconscionable conduct.”
Valentine Vamush owns commercial properties on Valentine Street near Mount Vernon City Hall and on East Third Street in the Columbus Avenue industrial corridor.
Loan Originations is a real estate lender affiliated with Spectra Capital, Birmingham, Alabama.
Valentine Vamush borrowed $2,931,886, at 30% interest per annum, in April 2025, according to court records, and Balgobin guaranteed the deal. A few payments were made, but by November 2025 the loan was in default.
Loan Originations filed a foreclosure action on June 26. A week later, Balgobin and Valentine Vamush sued Loan Originations.
Balgobin says she is legally blind, she could not read or review the loan documents, and documents were not “adequately read or explained to her.”
Representatives of Loan Originations advised her not to have a legal counsel at the closing, she alleges, because doing so would jeopardize approval of the loan.
She claims she executed the documents without a full understanding of the interest rate, terms of default and guaranty obligations. And the agreement requires any arbitration proceeding to take place in Alabama, “which imposes an unreasonable and oppressive burden under the circumstances.”
Balgobin accused the lender of fraudulent inducement. She is asking the court to rescind the loan and the guarantee and to declare the arbitration provision unenforceable. In verifying the complaint, she attested that her son had read it to her.
Loan Originations is asking the court to enforce the foreclosure and guarantee.
As of June 23, its complaint states, the balance on the $2,931,886 loan, including principal, interest and late charges, was $3,964,162 and was accruing by $2,931.89 a day.
