News

Judgments pile up against Carriage Park owner

By Bill Moss, Published: April 4, 2016

If Carriage Park developer Dale Hamlin loses his property in a foreclosure sale this week, other creditors are in line to ask for money, too.
Arendale Holdings won a foreclosure judgment in Henderson County civil Superior Court against Hamlin for nonpayment of a $9.7 million loan. The platted lots and vacant land that could be the site of a buildout of the rest of the ridgetop neighborhood are scheduled to be sold at auction on April 8 on the courthouse steps.
Arendale, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based developer of high-end golf courses and resort property, loaned Hamlin and Carriage Park Associates $9.7 million in November 2011. Hamlin was to repay the loan in installments of $1.98 million per year over five years. Arendale sued for repayment of $13.6 million plus $2 million in attorney’s fees.
Three other cases have resulted in claims or judgments against Hamlin totaling $97,617.
In a settlement of a lawsuit that Brenda A. Altschul brought in June 2010, Hamlin agreed a year later to pay Altschul $30,000 by the end of that year plus 10 percent of the net proceeds from the sale of lots in Carriage Park, up to $5,000 per lot. Hamlin complied with the terms of the agreement through September 2014, then failed to make payments to Altschul after the sale of three more lots, the lawsuit said. Altschul said in a court filing that Hamlin had paid $46,600 and still owed $83,400. The county Clerk of Superior Court agreed, and ordered Hamlin to pay the balance. In a writ that he filed on March 8, attorney Ervin Bazzle sought to collect the past due amount plus $3,217 interest.
In another case, Hamlin signed a “confession of judgment” last October admitting that he owed Susan and Claude Sykes $6,000 in earnest money they had put down on a sale.
And in a small claims case, contractor P.T. Green Construction Co. won a judgment for $5,000 for a builder damage deposit that was to be returned after the completion of a home at 102 Preserve Court. A magistrate ruled in favor of the contractor last October, ordering Hamlin to pay $5,000.
Chad Sharkey, an attorney for Arendale, said the outstanding judgments could cloud the title to land and complicate sales because a judgment against Carriage Park Associates stand as a lien on all of its property.
Hamlin insisted last week that Arendale’s court filings reflect an inaccurate picture.
“There’s quite a number of statements made that don’t have any factual basis,” he said. “Arendale has taken for four years between 90 and 95 percent of our net proceeds. That’s the way they’ve operated to literally put us out of business.”