Legacy Sells, Suits Tossed

Nearly three months after it was originally scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction, Brandon Barber’s Legacy Building in downtown Fayetteville sold on Nov. 13.

Legacy National Bank, the lead lender on the project, purchased the building for $11.25 million, well short of the $18.7 million liability found against Barber, wife Keri Barber and Seth and Laura Kaffka. Other banks who participated in the original $16.7 million loan were Metropolitan National Bank, First National Bank of Fort Smith and First National Bank in Green Forest.

LNB was the sole participant in a subsequent $2.7 million loan for the Legacy.

Barber and the other guarantors were found liable for the loans on July 23 and the building was scheduled to be sold Aug. 21, but Barber filed last-minute bankruptcy and lawsuits against LNB and court-appointed management company Flake & Kelley. Barber also sued Washington County Circuit Court Clerk Bette Stamps, demanding she release the sale proceeds of a condo that sold during the receivership.

The bankruptcy judge dismissed Barber’s Chapter 11, throwing out his lawsuits against LNB, F&K and Stamps. LNB has said it will pursue recovery of the full liability, and somehow we doubt Barber’s last-ditch legal maneuvering has made that any less likely.