Arkansas attorney general asks court to intervene in troubled Little Rock apartment complex
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Wednesday morning asked the Pulaski County Circuit Court to appoint a bankruptcy trustee to pay the bills and make repairs at the Big Country Chateau apartment complex in Little Rock.
Griffin also asked the court to freeze the assets of the property’s owners and obtain a statement of rents and expenses collected by Big Country Chateau. The urgent request also includes a request for an injunction that would prohibit, among other things, the destruction of records.
On Tuesday, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. filed a foreclosure action in the District Court against Apex Big Chateau AR LLC.
The court filing, filed Tuesday by attorneys Wilson and Associates, PLLC, states that on July 31, 2019, Apex Big Chateau AR LLC entered into a loan agreement with CBRE Capital Markets Inc., a commercial real estate company. That $5,220,000 loan was secured by the homes, according to the filing.
The mortgage was approved and filed with the Circuit Clerk and Ex-Officio-Recorder for Pulaski County for recording on August 1, 2019, including a promissory note requiring monthly payments beginning September 1, 2019.
Lawyers argue that Apex owner Oron Zarum defaulted on the terms of the mortgage and promissory note by failing to make scheduled payments due on December 1, 2022 and thereafter.
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. $4,943,213.83 is now owed along with accrued interest, according to the court filing.
“Defendants misappropriated consumer funds earmarked for utility payments and elected not to pay Entergy Arkansas and Central Arkansas Water with funds made available to them for that purpose,” the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office statement said Submitting a petition citing the Arkansas Act’s deceptive trading practices, the petition adds: “Accepting consumer funds for an express purpose and not using the funds for such a purpose is an unconscionable, false and deceptive practice within the meaning of the ADTPA.”
In its request for an injunction, the country stated that “immediate and irreparable harm will result if consumers are cut off from water and electricity because tenants are no longer able to stay safely in their homes.” The power outage tempts tenants to use heating and cooking methods that pose a fire hazard and endanger tenants’ lives.”
The petition from Griffin’s office also argued that the owners of the Big Country Chateau chose not to pay tenants’ electric and water bills and that the requested asset freeze and injunction were necessary to get the tenants’ money Protecting tenants given the “fraudulent nature of the defendants”. misappropriation of funds”.
Violations of the Deceptive Trading Practices Act carry a civil penalty of up to $10,000 each, according to the complaint. With 151 units in the apartment complex, the state could seek penalties of $1.5 million if there is at least one violation per unit.
If the court grants the request, the defendants have three days to provide the name of an agreed liquidator or to submit a list of names to the court.
