A retired New York lawyer who bought a $5.5 million Cape Cod mansion that was teetering on the verge of falling into the ocean claims he shouldn’t have to pay off his mortgage because he was “manic” when he bought it.
John G. Bonomi Jr, 66, purchased the 5,817-square-foot dwelling situated between Cape Cod Bay and Wellfleet Harbor in November 2021 for the asking price of $5.5 million, despite the bluff eroding at a rate of 3.8 to 5.6 feet per year.
The home, which has since been demolished to prevent the collapse, was built in 2010 and featured five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and gorgeous sunset and water views.
Bonomi currently owes $3,850,000 on his mortgage and is suing JPMorgan Chase to void the payment through the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Ethan Leib, a professor of law at Fordham Law School, told the Boston Globe in a recent article about the case that Bonomi faces a “difficult burden of proof,” and questions how a mortgage lender could be expected to know that he was in a manic phase at the time of the purchase.
Bonomi, who was diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder in 2009, is claiming that the bank shouldn’t have lent him the money because “no rational person…would have considered purchasing the Property, and certainly not at the full asking price,” the filing states.
While this claim may sound far fetched, New York State does have a legal precedent that allows mental health conditions to be a basis for invalidating a contract.
Bonomi is seeking a jury trial, as well as to void the mortgage and note for $3.85 million with interest, damages, and attorney’s fees.
“Plaintiff was acting under an uncontrollable manic psychosis at the time he entered into the Mortgage and Note,” the suit, filed in October 2025, reads. “It is a recognized diagnostic fact that a symptom of bipolar disorder is irrational risk-taking and impulsive behavior, including reckless spending.”
Bonomi alleges that the bank “was aware, or willfully avoided acknowledging, that Plaintiff was not at that time competent to enter
