A foreclosure auction for the Advanced Internet Technologies (AIT) building is scheduled for September 26, but the company said that the business is in good health and is not ceasing operations anytime soon. The owner of AIT said the business plans to remain in its space by leasing some of the building long-term, post-foreclosure.
AIT, a provider of website hosting and related Internet services, initially rented the building from Cumberland County in 2000 as a location for its operations. The company then purchased the building in 2004.
The bank that holds the mortgage said AIT defaulted on a $3.9 million mortgage in the middle of 2010 after failing to meet a final balloon payment of almost $3 million.
AIT’s owner said in an affidavit that the company had attempted to renegotiate the loan, continuing to make its normal monthly payments in the meantime. The payments were made for over a year before the bank started foreclosure proceedings in the fall of 2011.
Court documents show that there is more to the story than simply failing to make a final payment. AIT alleged that the boundaries in the property deed were not correct. One of the issues at hand was that AIT thought it owned the parking lot, but the city of Fayetteville said it had ownership of the parcel instead. The city had been trying to collect rent from AIT for use of the parking lot.
A map in the court documents shows a street, Maiden Lane, running through what is now the parking lot. The road was moved in order for the parking lot to be made. The city is claiming ownership of the land that was once Maiden Lane.
AIT sued the bank, title insurance company, and the county over the boundary dispute. It also fought against the foreclosure action, appealing a clerk’s approval of the foreclosure to Cumberland County Superior Court.
Ultimately, AIT stopped fighting in August 2012, and the auction was scheduled.
Source: Fay Observer, “AIT building in downtown Fayetteville to be auctioned, company expects to remain,” Paul Woolverton, September 6, 2012.
For more information, please visit our Fayetteville business foreclosure page.