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One of Iowa’s biggest nursing home chains, now mired in bankruptcy, allegedly owes taxpayers more than $1 million in unpaid fines due to poor quality resident care, the federal government says, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. QHC Facilities, which owns eight skilled-nursing facilities and two assisted-living centers in Iowa, filed for bankruptcy in late December. The owner of the company, Nancy Voyna, died a few weeks after the company filed for bankruptcy and her son is now pursuing a sale of the company and all of its assets. The 10 facilities have a combined capacity of almost 750 residents. One potential hurdle to a sale is outlined in recent court filings by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The two agencies provide QHC with a significant portion of its revenue through Medicare and Medicaid payments for resident care. According to CMS, two of QHC’s eight skilled-nursing facilities — one in Mitchellville and one in Winterset — recently faced termination from the Medicare program, which would have shut off all of the federal funding that flows into those homes for resident care. The potential terminations were “based on quality-of-care issues and mold-related issues,” CMS says. Read more.

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Ann Taylor’s former owner has obtained bankruptcy court approval for its revised reorganization plan after a judge rejected certain legal protections for people and entities connected to the company contained in an earlier version of the plan, Reuters reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro of the Eastern District of Virginia signed off on Mahwah Bergen Retail Group Inc.’s amended plan during a brief hearing on Thursday. Mahwah, formerly known as Ascena Retail Group, had secured approval of its prior plan last year but was forced to return to bankruptcy court in January after the plan's so-called nondebtor releases that would have shielded non-bankrupt individuals and entities from future litigation were voided on appeal. Ascena filed for chapter 11 protection in July 2020 with more than $1 billion in debt, part of the wave of retail bankruptcies that occurred in the first few months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. Ascena later sold its assets, including apparel retailers such as Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant and Loft, to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. In January, U.S. District Judge David Novak of the Eastern District of Virginia held that the nondebtor releases contained in the plan were void and unenforceable. Judge Novak’s decision did not interfere with the Sycamore sale, which had already closed. In his January decision, Judge Novak called the releases “shocking” and said that the bankruptcy court that approved them had exceeded “the constitutional limits of its authority.” As a result, Mahwah, which now exists solely to wind down its estate, reworked the plan to provide that the releases "should be deemed severed from the Plan,” according to court papers.

A Los Angeles mega-mansion that was the biggest U.S. home to ever go up for auction sold for $141 million, including commissions, when bidding closed yesterday, Bloomberg News reported. The 21-bedroom, 49-bath hilltop estate — dubbed “The One” — had a list price of $295 million. Developer Nile Niami said in 2015 that he would ask $500 million for the Bel Air property, which also has five swimming pools and a 30-car garage. The highest offer was $126 million, according to a spokesperson for Concierge Auctions, which ran the sale. A 12% commission for the auction house boosted the total price to $141 million — more than double the previous record for a U.S. home auction, the company said in a statement. Other auctions of luxury properties have fallen short of asking prices. The Villa Firenze in Beverly Hills, California, fetched $51 million last year after Concierge Auctions conducted a sale with a $160 million asking price. The sale requires approval by a bankruptcy court judge, with a closing scheduled by March 21, according to a court filing.

Handing a key legal victory to survivors of clergy sexual abuse, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood on Saturday ruled the assets of Catholic parishes and schools belong to the Archdiocese of Agana as a whole — and could therefore be used to help pay abuse claimants, the Guam Daily Post reported. The judge's ruling capped a three-year-old request from hundreds of survivors, represented by Leo Tudela. Millions of dollars worth of buildings, parking lots, vehicles, cemeteries, bank accounts and other parish and school property are now part of the archdiocese's bankruptcy estate, which could be liquidated. But the judge and the creditors committee, along with the archdiocese, said the end goal is to justly compensate the abuse survivors while keeping the parishes, schools and ministries open.

A judge approved the sale of bankrupt Watsonville Community Hospital to a not-for-profit group that includes the California county and city where it operates, Bloomberg News reported. Bankruptcy Judge M. Elaine Hammond said during a brief hearing yesterday that she had no objections about the sale to the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project. The pressures of the pandemic added to years of losses at Watsonville, which lies in an agricultural area whose population has roots mostly in Latin America. The state approved the creation of the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District earlier this month, establishing an authority that can operate the facility and issue bonds. California’s 77 health-care districts are designed to provide care in under-served areas. Though the hospital was shopped and an auction was initially scheduled, no other qualified buyers submitted bids.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe made close to $1.7 million from its second online auction, an auctioneer’s representative said on Friday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Money from the auction will go to a potential settlement agreement with more than 400 victims of child sexual abuse perpetrated over decades by clergy members with ties to the archdiocese. No agreement has been reached and a third mediator has been brought in for negotiations. The archdiocese filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy more than three years ago. Insurance companies are expected to pay a big chunk of any settlement reached. The archdiocese also is selling other properties and seeking contributions. Louis B. Fisher III of SVN Auction Services said that his company offered 86 packages of small properties. The auction ended Monday. SVN also held an online for the archdiocese last year, resulting in about $1.4 million.

A 134-acre piece of property near Denver International Airport, which was poised for development before the owner filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, has sold for $18.1 million at a bankruptcy auction, the Denver Business Journal reported. Hilltop at DIA LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2021 due to pandemic-caused delays in finalizing entitlements. Hilltop at DIA LLC is owned and managed by Michael Graham, managing partner for the real estate investment firm Sebastian Partners LLC. Graham had proposed a $400 million mixed-use project near DIA for a master-planned community called Avelon that would include hotels, apartments, roughly 1,100 single-family lots and 40 acres of commercial space. Graham exclusively told the Denver Business Journal in 2019 that the project would be anchored by an amphitheater with a retractable roof, which would allow for year-round events. But by October 2021, Hilco Real Estate LLC, an Illinois-based firm that specializes in real estate strategy for clients, had put out a request for proposals on behalf of Hilltop at DIA for the land at 22050 E. 64th Ave., located at the corner of East 64th Avenue and Picadilly Road near E-470. The property sold to SAV Land Holdings West LLC on Dec. 29, according to Adams County property records. That entity is associated with Minneapolis-based real estate firm Sherman Associates Inc. An order approving the sale, filed in mid-December with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, confirms Sherman Ventures Management LLC as the successful bidder.