A dispute between Miami-based developer Tzadik Management and lender Arbor Realty Trust has wound up in court, with Tzadik alleging that an Arbor affiliate tried to “systematically destroy Tzadik” by spreading lies.

Arbor denied all of the claims made by Tzadik, arguing that the lawsuit provided no specific details about the alleged lies.

The suit, filed in New York state court, alleges that Arbor spread rumors about Tzadik within the real estate industry, claiming that Tzadik was about to go out of business and was unreliable.

Tzadik also alleges in the suit that Arbor told lies about Tzadik to a Fannie Mae employee who formerly worked at Arbor. That, the suit says, caused Fannie Mae to “blacklist” Tzadik, thus cutting off access to capital from the largest U.S. agency lender.

“The actions undertaken by defendant were malicious, and were done for no reason other than to harm Plaintiff,” the suit says.

Tzadik had a relationship with Arbor in which the latter would provide bridge lending to Tzadik to acquire properties, then provide the company with permanent financing.

Tzadik alleges that the relationship went sour in 2019 or 2020 when it chose a different lender, Greystone, for an acquisition of a multifamily portfolio in Texas.

“Arbor warned Tzadik to never facilitate Greystone's services again, and warned that it would regret using Greystone,” the suit says. “Thereafter, Arbor began a campaign to sabotage Tzadik’s investments in any manner that it could.”

In its filings, Arbor denied those allegations. As of Tuesday morning, attorneys for neither Tzadik nor Arbor had responded to requests for comment from Bisnow.