The complaint was filed in Gordon County Superior Court by Bartow County Bank on Jan. 7, 2010, alleging that Graves and Rogers, the previous owners of the property, had defaulted on a $2.25 million loan, according to court records reviewed by the Calhoun Times in May of last year.
According to the lawsuit, Bartow County Bank alleges that Tich Hospitality, the company previously owned by Graves and Rogers, was insolvent on the debt and did not have the assets available for repayment of the loan.
Graves and Rogers filed a countersuit in March 2010 stating that the bank’s claim should be dismissed due to the bank acting in bad faith and breaching the terms of the loan agreement, according to a May edition of the Calhoun Times.
“While we've been hopeful for a speedy resolution, it remains unresolved, and I’m unable to discuss any details at this time,” said Graves in an e-mail Wednesday.
Phone calls to Rogers were unreturned by press time Thursday.
According to Tara Zapp, chief deputy clerk for Gordon County, an order was filed on Jan. 24 by James Johnson, Roger’s attorney, to stay all legal proceedings while Rogers is participating in this year’s General Assembly legisla-tive session.
The proceedings are frozen until the adjournment of the session later this year plus three weeks, Zapp said.
A $1,498 lien was filed against Graves and Rogers in Dec. 2010 by the IRS against Tich Hospitality. The lien, which was filed in Gordon County Superior Court, was filed as the result of missing W-2 paperwork for one quarter of 2007 and was paid shortly thereafter.
In December, Graves issued a statement that all taxes for Tich Properties, LLC were up-to-date.
According to John Edens, the current owner of the Oglethorpe, Graves and Rogers sold him Tich Hospitality in 2009, but the sale did not involve the $2.25 million loan at Bartow County Bank.
“I couldn’t qualify for that loan,” he said.
When John Edens took over the Oglethorpe in November of 2009 the business was in a great deal of debt, Edens told the Calhoun Times Friday. According to Edens, the first thing he did after taking over was “make right with the bills.”
But now, he’s considering filing bankruptcy after the Inn lost power last week, due to unpaid charges, he said Friday.
This is not Eden’s first run-in with bankruptcy, he said. In 2004, Edens filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, however, he also paid off a $5 million lien placed on his personal credit by the Internal Revenue Service in 2003.
“It buried me to pay that,” he said.
A lien was filed by the city of Calhoun on Tich Hospitality in Nov. 2010 for unpaid 2009 property taxes in the amount of $15,394.50, according to Misty Caudle, tax clerk for the city.
Property taxes for 2010 in the amount of $13,376.09 are currently unpaid, said Caudle, and the deadline for payment is Feb. 28. If the taxes remain unpaid, the city will file another lien against Tich Hospitality in the amount that is owed after 60-90 days of non-payment, she said.
Edens has yet to receive a bill, he said during a phone conversation Wednesday.
If Edens were to file bankruptcy, the city would then file a claim for payment, because taxes are considered a priority, Caudle stated.
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