Trinitas foreclosure auction delayed

Posted: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 9:25 am | Updated: 10:39 am, Tue Mar 20, 2012.Alex George | 0 comments

A dozen witnesses shivered under the Calaveras County Superior Court gazebo, hands covered and feet damp, anticipating a foreclosure auction on the final 120-acre parcel of the Trinitas golf course near Wallace.  On Friday morning, that auction, which would have completed the sale of the 280-acre property, was postponed for a second time.

Trinitas has been entangled in legal battles since 2009, after owners Michael and Michelle Nemee filed for bankruptcy.  The course was built on agricultural land without proper permits and deemed unlawful by the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.

Community Bank of San Joaquin, which already owns the course’s 160-acre parcel, will hold another round of foreclosure auctions on both the 120 and 160-acre parcels. William Parish, an attorney representing the bank in the foreclosure proceedings, said the bank decided to conduct the auctions again because of an allegation by one of the Nemees’ attorneys that a bank attorney had failed to post public notice of the auctions.

“There was an assertion made at a hearing in bankruptcy court in mid February that counsel for the community bank stated a trustees’ sale would be re-noticed,” Parish said Friday, after the auction’s postponement.  “We made a decision rather than to create an issue of dispute, to re-notice the sales. This will avoid argument in the future as to whether the representative of the bank made the statement or not.”

Parish said attorney Dennis Hauser, who has been representing the bank in U.S. Bankruptcy court, allegedly made the promise. However, the court reporter with the hearing’s transcript has been unavailable, and therefore Parish has been unable to confirm whether Hauser made such a promise.

“This will result in a minor delay of auction for three to four weeks,” Parish said.

“We don’t really care what the transcript says. The reason why you do this is because it is easier to re-notice the sale with minor delay rather than make issues people will argue in the future.”

On March 2, the bank held a public auction for a second mortgage it holds on a 160-acre portion of Trinitas. There were no outside bidders present, and the bank claimed the parcel for $1.2 million. The bank also holds the first mortgage on the 160-acres, but Parish said an additional auction on that parcel is not necessary.

Meanwhile, the status of the 120-acre parcel is more complicated, as Mark and Michelle Rishwain of Stockton hold the first mortgage. Rishwain has said he would be open to settling with the bank so the Nemees and their investors could retain control of the property. The 120-acre portion features the majority of the course’s 18 holes.

With the 160-acre portion going back to auction, Parish said the deed of trust could change hands if someone were present to bid.

Contact Alex George at ageorge@calaverasenterprise.com

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