Barnes

Decree ends Barnes’ saga

Bankruptcy case comes to an end BURLINGTON- A final decree has been issued in the Hermitage Inn Real Estate Holding Company bankruptcy case, officially ending the four-year federal bankruptcy case.
In a decree signed on May 31, Vermont District Bankruptcy Court Judge...

The Barnstormer chairlift at the Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain. Creditors are seeking cash payments from the bankruptcy settlement for the lift. File photo/MDE

Barnes creditors looking to carve up lift cash

HARTFORD, CT- Several Hermitage creditors, including a trustee for a Barnes family trust, are vying for a share of the proceeds of a bankruptcy distribution to Barnstormer LLC in Connecticut District Federal Court.
The action was initiated by the plaintiffs in a previous Hermitage lawsuit...

Barnes issued another $35 per week judgement

HARTFORD, CT- A Connecticut Superior Court judge has ordered James Barnes to make weekly payments to the title insurance company that insured the Hermitage Club’s mortgages with Berkshire Bank.
Hartford Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck ordered Barnes to pay $35 per week to Fidelity Life...

James Barnes

Barnes ordered to pay $35 per week

HARTFORD, CT- A Connecticut court has ordered former Hermitage Club owner James Barnes to pay $35 per week on a $1.3 million debt owed to Douglas Hollenbeck, one of the club’s founding members and investors.
The order follows a 2019 judgment in a Windham County, VT, court, as well as a...

Barnes ordered to pay title company

HARTFORD, CT- A Connecticut court has ordered former Hermitage owner James Barnes to pay $118,699 to a title insurance company that backed deeds under Berkshire Bank’s mortgage of Hermitage properties.
In an order signed Monday, April 12, Hartford Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck granted...

Airport still in limbo

DOVER- Ownership of the Deerfield Valley Regional Airport has been transferred to a Hermitage creditor under a stipulation and settlement approved by the Vermont District Bankruptcy Court.
According to court documents, AW Realty, a Vermont-registered company based in Manchester, held a...

Barnes at the launch of the Barnstormer Summit Lift in 2016.

Barnes appeal of decision in Hermitage bankruptcy dismissed

NEW YORK- The Second Court of Appeals dismissed a bankruptcy appeal by former Hermitage owner James Barnes on Thursday morning.
The court dismissed the appeal after Barnes failed to meet deadlines set for the submission of documents in the case. On Friday, January 15, the court issued a...

Judge rules default after Barnes fails to show up

HARTFORD, CT- A Connecticut court granted a motion for default judgement against James Barnes last week in a lawsuit filed by a former Hermitage Club investor.
According to the court docket and Hollenbeck’s motion, Barnes never answered the Connecticut suit or made an appearance in the...

Barnes files appeal of court decision in bankruptcy sale

NEW YORK- James Barnes has filed an appeal of a November decision in Vermont District Federal Court dismissing his objections to the sale of the Hermitage Club to a group of club members.
Barnes filed the appeal with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, located in lower Manhattan, on...

In March 2018, the Vermont Department of Taxes shut down the Hermitage for failure to pay rooms, meals, alcohol, and sales taxes. The same month, Berkshire Bank filed for foreclosure on the Hermitage for failure to pay $17 million in loans, About a year later, a group of creditors forced the Hermitage into bankruptcy. The Hermitage real estate and other assets were sold at auction to the Hermitage Club Member Group in March 2020. Barnes' appeal of the bankruptcy court's sale order was dismissed last week.

Judge dismisses Barnes' bankruptcy sale appeals

By Mike Eldred
BURLINGTON- Vermont District Court Judge Christina Reiss has dismissed former Hermitage owner James Barnes’ appeals in the bankruptcy sale of Hermitage assets to the Hermitage Member Group.
In her decision, Reiss ultimately found that the court lacked jurisdiction...