As the company struggled, she leveraged her Hamptons real estate. The limited liability company associated with the main building, 376 Gin Lane, received a $15 million loan from Morgan Stanley in 2011, according to public records. Around the same time, a second home, 366 Gin Lane, received $8.5 million in financing from Wells Fargo.
In 2016, Mr. Blouin brought La Dune to market. Asking price: $140 million. In the absence of her underwriter, she decided to take out an additional $26 million loan from her lender, JGB Management.
Over the next few years, the amount she owed JGB grew to $36 million due to high interest rates. In the fall of 2021, JGB sued Mr. Blouin and attempted to seize La Dune.
Around the same time, the IRS notified Ms. Blouin that she owed six years of unpaid payroll taxes and penalties from Louise Blouin Media and another company she owned, ArtNow. In 2021, deputies handed out bills totaling more than $10 million, according to court records. Mr. Blouin responded in his affidavit that he should not be held liable for the debt.
“At some point I was a shareholder,” Mr. Blouin said in the affidavit. “While one of the companies was named after me, I was not a director, manager or employee.” The IRS remained undeterred and placed liens totaling at least $4.7 million on two Gin Lane properties, according to court filings from Mr. Blouin.
In 2022, she retained Bay Point Advisors, which underwritten loans from JGB Management. It then assumed debt on Morgan Stanley loans that had not yet been repaid.