North Carolina-based bank BB&T Corp. will have to wait until May 8 to have its day in court regarding a real estate developer the bank says defaulted on about $4.5 million in loans. While the foreclosure hearing was originally scheduled for Dec. 20, the court recently granted the developer a continuance.
Through various companies, the defendant was once one of the biggest developers in the Wilmington area. Among the thousands of parcels of land under his control were 11 tracts making up several lots in Oak Island, Holden Beach and Shallotte. The purchase of those properties was financed through loans issued by BB&T in 1997.
The developer apparently made regular payments on those mortgages until the real estate market collapsed in 2008. After that, BB&T says, he started making partial payments only. It noted that acceptance of those partial payments did not constitute any waiver of its legal rights to the rest of the unpaid debt.
The loans expired in March and both parties began negotiating a settlement of the millions in outstanding debt. The bank says that those negotiations did not result in a settlement and filed to foreclose on the properties. It hoped to finalize the foreclosures by the end of the year. However, the developer’s attorneys successfully petitioned the court for the continuance. The developer may believe that the parties can reach a settlement before the May 8 hearing. His attorneys say that BB&T have sold the mortgages to another creditor.
The developer has faced numerous lawsuits over the past few years, including one filed by Bank of American and another from homeowners at several of his developments.
Source: Wilmington Star News, “BB&T files paperwork to foreclose on developer,” Jason Gonzales, Dec. 26, 2012