Colony trustee's motion denied

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May wants nothing to do with making a decision that would allow the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort’s trustee and Colony Lender to sell everything from linens to toilets inside the vacant hotel units.

At a Wednesday, Nov. 10 hearing in Tampa, May denied a request by Colony trustee William Maloney thatwould have allowed him to sell the resort’s furnishings at a liquidation sale.

“Some other court, presumably state court, will have to determine ownership rights for these owners,” said May, who believes that lawsuits need to be filed individually by Colony Lender before they can go to door to door and take items like toilets and sinks from units. “I believe that someone with a deed to a unit has the rights to those items.”

May said he was surprised to learn Colony Lender was interested in selling everything from kitchen sinks to cabinets.

If Colony Lender still wishes to sell the items it believes it has rights to, a Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court judge most will likely have to determine ownership rights of the units’ contents.

After the hearing, Siegal told The Longboat Observer the argument over the furnishings is not Colony Lender’s focal point.

Referring to Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Simpson’s letter that states zoning issues exist before the resort can even be reopened with its current number of 237 units, Siegal said there are more important issues to discuss.

“What we are interested in now is finishing our foreclosure,” said Siegal, who explained Colony Lender will have a court date in January for a Sarasota County judge to set the amount due from overdue loans it purchased from longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber.

“The couches, chairs, toilets and sinks don’t mean anything,” Siegal said. “To deal with the furniture and furnishings, while ignoring and not dealing with the real estate issues that exist at the town level, is like trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

For more information, pick up a copy of the Nov. 18 edition of The Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].