Things are taking an interesting twist with the Old Mall. It looks like Hovmanian might have some trouble on their hands in this deal.
It turns out the contract was revised three times and signed each time by Hovmanian, all the way up to ONE DAY before Hovmanian filed their lawsuit. UNBELIEVABLE! The third time they signed was in May of 2007!
The Old Mall Owners have filed a Counter Claim for $557,000.00 and for what it's worth Ladies & Gentlemen, that's just ridiculous. The ONLY people that are going to make out here are the lawyers and the Old Mall Owners are being represented by an Attorney.
As there are always three sides to every story, in this round I give it to the Old Mall Owners as Hovmanian is dealing with a multitude of lawsuits from property owners because Hovmanian has been backing out of so many deals it isn't funny. To only ask for a half a mil, something just doesn't sound right to me? The Old Mall Owners are allegedly losing millions upon millions of dollars with their key developer backing out. I just smell something fishy here, that's all.
2 comments:
Sir:
Here’s some additional information on this case from the Maryland Court system website at http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us:
Court Scheduling Information
Event Type: Settlement Conference Notice Date:12/18/2007
Event Date: 08/11/2008 Event Time:01:30 PM
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Event Type: Pre-Trial Conference Notice Date:12/18/2007
Event Date: 09/19/2008 Event Time:08:30 AM
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Event Type: Civil Non-Jury Trial Notice Date:12/18/2007
Event Date: 09/29/2008 Event Time:09:00 AM
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This indicates that last week the Wicomico County Circuit Court set the case for non-jury trial beginning on Sept. 29, 2008, so it could be a long time before any money changes hands regardless of who “wins” at the trial, because then it could be appealed for another 2-3 years. Therefore, the final outcome may not occur until 2010 or 2011.
The website data also shows that one of Hovnanian’s attorneys (Ernest Cornbrooks) is a partner with the City of Salisbury’s attorney, Paul Wilber, which seems strange (to say the least):
Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff/Petitioner
Name: Cornbrooks, III, Ernest I
Practice Name: Webb, Burnett, Jackson, Cornbrooks, Wilber, Vorhis & Douse, LLP
Address: P.O. Box 910
City: Salisbury State:MD Zip Code:21803-0910
Name: Zink, III, John H
Practice Name: Venable LLP
Address: P O Box 5517
210 Allegheny Avenue
City: Towson State:MD Zip Code:21285-5517
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The attorney for Salisbury Mall Associates is from across the pond:
Attorney(s) for the Defendant/Respondent
Name: McCartney, Esq, Donald J
Practice Name: Law Offices Of Donald J. Mccartney
Address: 10420 Little Patuxent Pkw Suite 410
City: Columbia State:MD Zip Code:21044
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When everyone was worried about density in their objections about the Mall, I always said with the housing crash I didn't think much would be built there for a long time to come.
We may see a couple more drug stores wanting enterprise zone status along with a few fast food places.
As far as homes go, ask any realtor how many homes are listed now that people really want to sell at affordable prices just to get out of the city, and they aren't selling either.
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