The owner of Granby Ranch has filed her response disputing facts in a foreclosure lawsuit that put property in the hands of a court-appointed receiver.
Marise Cipriani, the owner of Granby Ranch, filed a response Tuesday to a foreclosure complaint against Granby Realty Holdings. Granby Prentice LLC submitted the foreclosure filing Friday in Grand County District Court alleging that Granby Realty Holdings owes the lender more than $62 million.
Cipriani’s response claims Granby Prentice failed to demonstrate the pressing circumstances needed for a receiver, a third party that protects the value of a property during foreclosure proceedings, and says that Granby Prentice “grossly mischaracterizes” the history of events in its complaint.
The foreclosure complaint urged for a receiver because of Granby Realty’s financial condition and says Granby Realty Holdings’ “recent conduct” risks devaluing the property.
The response goes on to claim that Granby Prentice indicated to Granby Realty that it would accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure while also “ensuring a seamless transition” of the resort amenities before “it changed its mind and made additional unreasonable demands that could have jeopardized the ongoing operation of the resort.”
“Therefore, if any crises exist, it was created by Lender’s malfeasance and own gross embellishment of the factual circumstances,” the response concluded.
The foreclosure filing was a surprise, said Ciprini, who had been in talks with Granby Prentice to surrender the property to the lender in lieu of foreclosure.
“I was working very hard with them to give them the deed in lieu,” Cipriani told Sky-Hi News on Wednesday. “But it’s their option. They are the lender; they can do anything. I had no idea.”
The deed in lieu would have been a simpler way to transfer the property to the lender. A judicial foreclosure proceeding is a civil suit and could foreshadow a lengthy court process that might take years to resolve.
However, Granby Prentice claimed in the filing that the property’s fair market value is not enough to cover the $62 million owed by Granby Realty.
Cipriani said that the resort amenities will continue operating as a separate company for the time being.
“So that’s good news for employees, for the users of all the amenities and all that,” she said. “But I really don’t know a lot myself. I am learning.”
After 25 years of running the resort, Cipriani said it was sad to walk away but she wanted the best for her project.
“As a developer, as a business owner, we all should hope that anything we do goes beyond us,” Cipriani said. “We are temporary. A project like this is beyond the time that I can be alive… I will do everything I can even now to make sure that it keeps going that way, but I have a limitation obviously.”
More coverage:
Granby Ranch faces foreclosure as property goes to receiver
Owner of Granby Ranch to surrender property as lender takes over