A lawsuit filed in West Virginia alleges that Mountain Blue, a company owned by Joe Manchin, is in default on a nearly $15 million loan related to property in Morgantown, and seeks to appoint a receiver. The suit further claims that liens have been filed by the state of West Virginia for $437,878 in back taxes and by Monongalia County for over $150,000 in unpaid hotel taxes. Joe Manchin may not care about paying his taxes, but West Virginia voters may have something to say on the matter.

“Clearly Joe Manchin was not joking when he said he didn’t care if he is reelected,” said NRSC Spokesman Bob Salera. “Apparently, other things Joe Manchin doesn’t care about include paying off his debts and paying taxes.”

Lender seeks receiver, trustee’s sale for Hilton Garden Inn in Morgantown
The State Journal
Linda Harris
8/10/17
https://www.theet.com/statejournal/lender-seeks-receiver-trustee-s-sale-for-hilton-garden-inn/article_e8eb9c2b-adf5-59c9-8fb0-5d8b12d54eb0.html

A trustee for the bank that lent Mountain Blue Hotel Group more than $15 million to build a Hilton Garden Inn in Morgantown’s Sun Crest Town Center neighborhood wants the owners declared in default and a receiver appointed.

U.S. Bank National Association said Mountain Blue, a Georgia limited liability company with an office in Fairmont, has failed to live up to the loan requirements “and the property value is at risk.”

“Lender seeks to exercise its contractual and legal remedies in order to preserve and protect its security interest in the property,” the suit states. “To that end, (USBNA) will contemporaneously be filing an emergency motion for the appointment of a receiver to operate and manage the property while the default is ongoing and prior to a trustee’s sale of the property.”

The complaint identifies members of Mountain Blue as: William A. Abruzzino; Rebecca A. Abruzzino; Martha Hughes; Martha Hughes as trustee of the William A. Abruzzino and Rebecca A. Abruzzino Generation Skipping Trust; Judy Nunnally; Jaron Smalley; AA Property LLC; Peachtree Village Partners LLC; Rebecca A. Abruzzino as trustee of the Robert A. Abruzzino Irrevocable Trust; and Mark A. Abruzzino. It also identifies U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., and Democratic operative Larry Puccio as members of AA Property.

The suit, filed in federal court in Clarksburg, claims the lenders advanced Mountain Blue the more than $236,600 needed to pay the property’s franchise fee after Hilton threatened to terminate the agreement in May for non-payment. The lenders also advanced more than $350,000 to cover the hotel’s operating expenses in June and July.

USBNA, a real estate mortgage investment conduit acting as trustee, also said the state has filed a lien against the property for $437,878 in back taxes, and Monongalia County commissioners are suing over $150,000 in unpaid hotel taxes.

“(The lender) is not certain if the (money that’s been advanced) is being used to pay expenses of the property,” the suit noted. “For example, franchise fees and taxes were included in the budget and were clearly not paid. Absent the appointment of a receiver, there is no assurance that the property’s rents or any lender advances will be properly applied to expenses of the property.”

Though actual year-to-date numbers haven’t been provided, USBNA expects the property to be in the red by at least $158,000 in 2018, based on Mountain Blue’s own budget projections and alleges Mountain Blue has demonstrated an “inability to pay expenses as they come due.”

USBNA claims Mountain Blue has defaulted and wants payment-in-full of the $14,559,226 owed on the loan, plus costs, late charges, attorney fees and other expenses.

Atlanta lawyer George H. Freisem is listed as a Mountain Blue agent, but said that’s in Georgia, “and I have no comment on company activities in West Virginia.”

USBNA’s legal team, Christopher P. Schueller and Timothy P. Palmer of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Pittsburgh, said, “We cannot comment.”

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