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Super-rich hedge fund investor and prominent Trump donor John Paulson fled a $400,000-a-month rental apartment in the Hamptons after just seven days after finding the palatial seaside property reeked of rodent urine and excrement, according to a warning letter obtained by the newspaper. The Independent.

The stunning Southampton mansion, which includes neighbors such as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, hedge fund titan Ken Griffin and private equity mogul Leon Black, was reportedly infested with mice that got into the ventilation system and died there.

This not only resulted in a nauseating stench in the 10,000-square-foot home, the letter says, but also posed a significant health risk to 68-year-old Paulson and his 35-year-old fiancée, Alina de Almeida. Alina de Almeida claims she became ill due to the conditions on the property.

“The smell of decay, feces and urine is particularly strong after heavy rain,” the letter says.

Paulson, whose net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion, has been floated by presidential candidate Donald Trump as a possible candidate for Treasury Secretary if the newly minted felon manages to recapture the White House in November. In April, Paulson hosted a fundraiser for Trump at his Palm Beach home that reportedly raised more than $50 million. And in May, Paulson co-hosted a fundraiser for Trump in Manhattan with Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson. De Almeida is now pregnant with the couple’s first child, New York Post was reported late Thursday.

A representative for Paulson declined to comment on the report.The Independent.

In addition to the stench of rotting flesh, which Paulson says was intentionally concealed from him in order to get him to sign the lease, the letter says the eight-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion is infested with black mold, rotting wood and peeling paint. The ceilings are so full of water they are on the verge of collapsing. Overall, the “air quality (or lack thereof)” is poor, making the house a “dangerous and uninhabitable” place to live.

“From the tenant’s perspective, it is reprehensible that the premises were offered for lease in light of the dangerous conditions described above,” said the letter Paulson’s attorney sent to the landlord’s representatives last month.

The letter was submitted to the court as evidence in a $6 million lawsuit Paulson filed on Wednesday alleging that the billionaire was forced to stay in a hotel after moving out of his rental apartment and then had to spend additional money to rent acceptable accommodation for the rest of July, but the landlord refused to refund Paulson for the remaining three weeks, which he had already paid for in advance.

The lawsuit accuses the home’s unidentified owners, whose names are hidden behind an LLC, of ​​deceptive business practices, false statements and fraud, among other things.

In this context, Paulson’s lawyer’s letter of demand states that her client was misled about what he and his fiancée were getting involved in.

“While the tenant was viewing the property with the landlord’s agent, the sun was shining, all or most of the windows of the house were open and a draft was blowing through the house, which is located between the sea to the south and the bay to the north,” the letter states.

The broker who leased the property to Paulson, as well as attorneys and representatives for Ickenham Ltd., which owns the property, did not respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this summer, Paulson signed a lease for 1710 Meadow Lane from June 30, 2024, to July 31 for $380,000 (not including housekeeping and cleaning costs), according to a copy of the agreement presented in court. A $100,000 down payment was due at signing, plus a $50,000 security deposit. The remaining $280,000 was due by 5 p.m. June 25.

According to the lease, Paulson was allowed to bring his two cats, “as previously communicated to the landlord.” An ad for the property describes it as “a testament to sophisticated living, where dreams are woven into reality and the lucky few are invited to embark on a journey of unparalleled luxury and coastal charm.”

When Paulson and de Almeida moved in, they noticed a foul odor “almost immediately,” the outside decks were saturated with standing water that would not drain, and there were “severe moisture stains” on the ceilings, floors and walls, Paulson’s lawsuit states.

On July 3, Paulson sent the landlord a letter outlining his concerns, which was submitted to the court as evidence.

“We really loved your property and were hoping to have a wonderful stay at 1710 Meadow Lane in July,” Paulson wrote. “However, we regret to report that the house is very humid after the recent rain. We have been in the house for a few days and are having air issues as it is hard to breathe.”

Adequate repairs would have been impossible within the short lease term, so Paulson declared he was breaking the lease due to “unsafe conditions.” He demanded the return of the prorated rent amount, as well as the security deposit and a $5,000 cleaning fee.

But in a response letter dated July 5, the landlord denied Paulson’s request for a refund, saying he had not provided “evidence of unsafe conditions.”

Because of the July 4 holiday weekend, Paulson and de Almeida were unable to find a vacant hotel room until July 7, when they vacated the property, according to the lawsuit. On July 10, an outside engineer hired by Paulson discovered a “hidden crawl space” that contained “piles of trash,” “visible black mold,” and “significant amounts of rodent urine and feces, as well as dead rodents,” according to the lawsuit.

The engineer told Paulson that the ceiling in the home’s media room had a “humidity level” of 90 percent and could collapse at any time, the lawsuit says. The foul smell was caused primarily by decaying rodents, according to the engineer, who “suspected that there were likely more dead rodents in the air handling unit, which is a closed-loop system.”

On July 12, Paulson and de Almeida finally found “alternative accommodations” and removed their remaining belongings from the house, the lawsuit states.

Two weeks later, the landlord’s attorney disputed Paulson’s engineer’s findings, saying he had obtained a second opinion from an inspector who found no mold, “contamination” or health risks.

“The premises are in fact in a safe and habitable condition and therefore there is no basis whatsoever for the tenant to terminate the lease,” the attorney wrote to Paulson’s representative. “Instead, it appears that the tenant has changed his mind about this short-term rental and is desperately trying to find an excuse to terminate the lease before it expires.”

Paulson is demanding $5.9 million plus legal fees. Ickenham Ltd. has 20 days from Wednesday to officially respond to the lawsuit.