Inns in Portland and Camden are scheduled for foreclosure auctions at the end of next month, but a co-owner of both inns said owners will file for bankruptcy to prevent the auctions from taking place.
The Camden Harbour Inn, and its restaurant Natalie’s, and the Portland-based Danforth Inn, and its restaurant Tempo Dulu, are up for foreclosure auction on March 29.
Co-owner Raymond Brunyanszki of Portland said he and his business partner, Oscar Verest, never received a notice from Bar Harbor Bank and Trust — which holds the mortgages for both inns — that the two properties were slated for auction.
But an attorney representing Bar Harbor Bank and Trust said the bank’s law firm notified the owners’ attorney that the bank would be publishing foreclosure auction notices in local publications. Charles Remmel, said they gave the first notice well before the mandated 21 days of notice.
Brunyanszki said the inns’ owners are working on filing for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy for both businesses in order to halt the foreclosure auctions and allow for continuing negotiations with the bank.
“This is more a matter of principle and we will try to continue to solve this issue,” Brunyanszki said Monday. “We hope to stay in Chapter 11 [bankruptcy] as short as possible.”
Brunyanszki said the current situation is the result of an “ongoing disagreement” between the LLCs that operate the inns and Bar Harbor Bank and Trust. Breda LLC operates the Camden Harbour Inn and Natalie’s. Tempo Dulu LLC operates the Danforth Inn and Tempo Dulu restaurant.
Brunyanszki could not elaborate on the nature of the disagreement, but he alleges that Bar Harbor Bank and Trust made commitments that it has not fulfilled, costing the businesses about $1 million in added expenses during the past year.
The bank denies failing to abide by the agreement and said that financial trouble for the two LLCs dates to December 2016, according to Remmel. He said the bank has “tried to work with them” but that the businesses eventually failed to comply. “The defaults go back quite a long ways,” Remmel said.
Brunyanszki said the businesses are in fine financial standing and hope they are able to negotiate a contract that is favorable for both parties. Otherwise, Brunyanszki said the inns’ owners are prepared to let a judge decide what is fair.
Brunyanszki and Verest bought the Camden property in 2007 for about $2.8 million. In 2013-2014, the owners pumped another $1 million into the Camden Harbour Inn for renovations. Their banking relationship with Bar Harbor Bank and Trust began at about that time.
The Camden Harbour Inn, a 20-room high-end inn on Bayview Street, has been operating since the late 1800s. In 2014, Brunyanszki and Verest bought the nine-room Danforth Inn in Portland’s West End.
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