Indiana-Based Home Builder, Estridge Group, To Face Foreclosure Action(s)?
March 22, 2011
Estridge Group has fallen victim to the real estate-centered recession. Here are links to recent stories in the Indianapolis Business Journal and The Indianapolis Star:
As Estridge shuts sales operations, homeowners ask, 'What now?'
Estridge: We need cash to survive
My experience in representing the largest secured creditor in the Hansen & Horn situation suggests to me that one or more foreclosure cases may be right around the corner. But, I could be wrong. I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of the nature and extent of Estridge’s loans or collateral.
From a commercial foreclosure/creditor’s rights perspective, I thought this quote by Mr. Estridge was particularly interesting:
'I continued making interest payments on all the land we owned at a level of $400,000 a month for three or four years,'Estridge said. 'That depleted all of our capital. I should have just given the land back to the bank. As I look back, there’s the tactical versus the moral and the ethical.'
Again, I'm not familiar with the case, but in basic terms the quote implies the possibility that Mr. Estridge may have been presented with the choice between a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and a loan extension/modification. Experience has taught me that some borrowers simply don’t want to give up (or settle) when perhaps they should….