Posted on: Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Company to auction North Shore property

Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. — Financially troubled Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities is preparing to auction some prime Hawai'i property, which creditors hope will provide the company with cash to begin paying them back.

The beachfront parcels on O'ahu's North Shore have already lured offers of more than $18 million.

The lots at Dillingham Ranch are among the most valuable properties Met has left, and money from their sale will be returned to the thousands of creditors in Metropolitan's bankruptcy case.

Metropolitan CEO Maggie Lyons believes the company should clear at least $12 million on those sales, even after satisfying notes and other contingencies.

The company acquired the properties for about $17 million.

Met Mortgage, once a $2.7 billion financial conglomerate, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2004. The company and its affiliates owe an estimated $583 million, mostly to 16,000 small investors in the Pacific Northwest who bought notes and preferred stock.

The companies are the subject of numerous ongoing investigations by state and federal regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.