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Berkowitz Says Fannie-Freddie Legal Fight May Go Five More Years

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Five more years is how long fund manager Bruce Berkowitz says that it may take to resolve his legal battle with the U.S. government over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s billions in profits, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “From beginning to end, it could be a 10-year process,” said Berkowitz, whose Fairholme Fund holds one of the largest stakes in the mortgage-finance giants. It’s already been more than four years. Berkowitz, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and several other investors sued the government over its 2012 decision — under the provisions of a crisis-era bailout — to seize all of Fannie and Freddie’s earnings. So far, federal judges have upheld the legality of that profit sweep. Berkowitz said he’d like to see President Donald Trump release Fannie and Freddie from government control and turn them over to shareholders, moves the Obama administration resisted. If Trump’s Treasury Department doesn’t take action quickly, Berkowitz said he’ll bring his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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After Complaints, Fannie Mae Will Stop Selling Homes to Vision Property

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Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage finance giant, said on Tuesday that it had stopped selling properties to the firm, Vision Property Management, after conducting a review of the firm’s rent-to-own program, which operates in more than a dozen states, the New York Times reported today. The mortgage finance company will also impose restrictions on future sales of foreclosed homes to firms that engage in abusive forms of seller financing — which includes selling homes on either rent-to-own leases or in long-term installment agreements known as contract for deed. The policy change by Fannie could put a big crimp in the business model of certain investment firms that have sprouted up since the financial crisis. These firms buy foreclosed homes on the cheap and sell them to people unable to qualify for a conventional mortgage.

Bankruptcy Filing Halts Forced Sale of Part of Franklin, Tenn.'s Ovation Site

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A foreclosure sale of the non-office portion of the Ovation mixed-use development site in Cool Springs was put on hold after the owner filed for bankruptcy, The Tennessean reported yesterday. Stan Thomas, the Atlanta-based developer who's working with Thomas Ovation LLC to develop the 77 acres, said that the bankruptcy filing had been made in error. Thomas said he didn't get a message that the project's lender, Paramount Capital, had left late Wednesday, agreeing to extend the terms of its $27 million loan, which would have nixed the foreclosure sale. Thomas Ovation LLC is working to complete an arrangement with another lender, which would provide money to pay off Paramount Capital's debt. Thomas said he's optimistic about starting site work on the non-office portion of Ovation this fall with construction to start early this spring. The project is expected to include 480,000 square feet of retail space, a boutique hotel and 800 apartments. Thomas Ovation LLC bought the 77 acres at Ovation from SouthStar LLC.
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Mountain Creek Files for Chapter 11; Plan Would Allow Debt Restructuring

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Less than two years after acquiring Mountain Creek, the resort's new ownership has filed for chapter 11 reorganization, the New Jersey Herald reported today. The filing seeks a restructuring of the resort's debt including an estimated $26 million in contractually obligated sewer debt payments to the Vernon Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA). The debt obligations to the township stem from a 2012 agreement under which the resort's former principal owner, Gene Mulvihill, had agreed to have the resort assume approximately 65 percent of the MUA's debt to the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority for the buildout of the township's sewer system. A Mountain Creek spokesperson indicated that the filing would not affect existing operations at the resort and would best enable it to attract outside investment for other planned ventures. The resort's waterpark is scheduled to open the weekend of June 10-11 and seven days a week starting June 22. With Vernon's sewer system currently facing a cumulative debt of more than $40 million, it is unclear how the debt restructuring might impact the township or how much of the sewer system debt might otherwise fall on the balance of ratepayers, most of whom dwell in condominiums and single-family homes, if the court approves the restructuring.

Charleston County Saga Involving Former Charleston Naval Hospital a Tangled Mess in Bankruptcy Court

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In a dispute with tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and the fate of a key redevelopment plan in North Charleston both at stake, there appears to be no middle ground, The Post and Courier (S.C.) reported yesterday. Charleston County and a private developer returned to bankruptcy court to press their claims and made it clear that compromise is unlikely. Chicora Life Center wants a federal bankruptcy court judge to enforce a lease that would cost Charleston County more than $29.4 million. The county wants the opposite, a ruling that the county has no obligations under the lease. Chief Bankruptcy Judge John E. Waites was hoping that the two sides could find some common ground to move the bankruptcy case toward a resolution allowing debtors to be paid. After reading the latest filings, he was not optimistic. The years-long saga began optimistically, when North Charleston purchased the former hospital from the federal government for $2 million in 2012. Under the now-disputed lease agreement, the county had agreed to spend $1,177,044 a year for 25 years to rent three floors of the building. The county's decision to cancel the lease also complicated plans by the Medical University of South Carolina. After agreeing to lease space in the former Naval Hospital, the county also agreed to sell buildings in downtown Charleston to MUSC for $17 million.
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Leader of Proposed Telegraph Hill Development Files for Bankruptcy Protection

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Investors are pulling out of the proposed Telegraph Hill mixed-use project in Fredericksburg, Va., and its developer has filed for chapter 11 protection, The Free Lance-Star (Va.) reported yesterday. Fredericksburg Park LLC, the company local developer Andy Garrett formed to build Telegraph Hill, filed a voluntary petition for chapter 11, but Garrett said he is not giving up on the project. Garrett says inaction by city officials led to the problem. But the city’s development administrator says the city is working quickly to approve a new plan after Garrett failed to meet a deadline to move forward on his first plan, which the city council approved in 2013. The proposed mixed-use development encompasses 29 acres in Fredericksburg. Plans call for 81 single-family homes, 45 townhouses, 295 apartments and 75,000 square feet of retail space. Garrett said investors and creditors are seeking $3.5 million. Bowman Consulting Group is the largest creditor, with an unsecured claim of $369,141.38. Garrett said in his 30 years in development, it is the first time he’s had to use bankruptcy to keep a project alive. “But you play the cards you’re dealt and this was the one I was dealt,” he said.
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