Linkmeyer Sheriff Sale Postponed After Bankruptcy Filing

The City of Lawrenceburg is trying to recoup a $3 million loan.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – The City of Lawrenceburg is trying to recoup a $3 million loan. 

The selling of vacant land is one way the City can do that. 

The Linkmeyer Sheriff Sale set for August 27 has been temporarily cancelled based on the bankruptcy filing by the Steve Linkmeyer and Brian Bischoff group.

"We have temporarily cancelled the property sale so we can work through the bankruptcy," said city attorney Del Weldon. "Our goal remains the same, which is to recover the taxpayer money loaned out to Linkmeyer and Bischoff however we can. We will continue to work to that end."

Bankruptcy filings were made on August 13 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Indiana in New Albany by Linkmeyer Properties, LLC, Linkmeyer Kroger, LLC, and Linkmeyer Development II, LLC.

"When a bankruptcy is filed, an automatic “stay”, or freeze, gets issued in all related debts and court proceedings," said Weldon. "We will be asking the courts to let us proceed with the sheriff sale and the collections."

The sheriff sale and collections could mark the end of a long saga between the City of Lawrenceburg and the Linkmeyer group. 

The City of Lawrenceburg and Linkmeyer Properties, LLC have been intertwined for several years because of a $3 million loan that was attached to a botched development agreement.

In 2009, Linkmeyer approached the City and requested a $3 million load to facilitate a development project on 77 acres to be annexed by the City. The project included the Waterview apartment complex, which would be located on 16 of the 77 acres.

In an effort to maximize the amount of tax credits it would receive, Linkmeyer had to show “government participation” in the project. That is when former mayor Bill Cunningham and former LMU director Charles Davis signed a letter promising to help further the development by providing utility lines to the Waterview Apartments.

City administration changed and utilities were never run. The current administration's position is that they did not fail to live up to any promises, and no action of the City caused the project to fail. 

Eventually, the city foreclosed on Linkmeyer Development, leading to the Sheriff’s Sale of the property.

There are two areas of property that make up the sale. The area above Wal-Mart next to the Waterview Apartments and the area behind Kroger Plaza.

The purpose of the sale is to pay the amount due to the City of Lawrenceburg. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of $3,174,080.50, the surplus will be paid to the Clerk of Court to be transferred as the Court directs. The City of Lawrenceburg has the right to bid for the real property when it goes up for sale. If Lawrenceburg is the successful bidder, the City shall have the right to apply the amount of the judgement rendered as a credit toward the purchase of the real property, according to a Decree of Foreclosure filed in Dearborn Circuit Court earlier this year.

"We will be asking the court to let us go forward with the sale of the land," said Weldon. "The value of the property at the sale will determine whether or not they still owe a balance after the property is sold. Right now we have two ways of collecting the money they owe: one is selling the land which is based upon the lien or mortgage we have. The other is a collections case for the personal guarantees Brian Bischoff and Steve Linkmeyer made. We are pursuing collection in both ways."

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