Bank files for foreclosure on Brook Bound Inn

Brook Bound's seven-room lodgeBrook Bound Carriage HouseBrook Bound Cabin

WILMINGTON- Another Hermitage property is under threat of foreclosure, after Brattleboro Savings and Loan filed a complaint on the Hermitage Club's Brook Bound Inn property on Coldbrook Road.

The inn is listed on the Hermitage Club's website and on signage as an exclusive club lodging option for members and guests. The property includes a cluster of buildings including a seven-bedroom farmhouse lodge, a four-bedroom carriage house, and a three-bedroom cabin.

The 33-acre property is currently owned by 447 HR Brook Bound, LLC. The Vermont-registered company, according to the Vermont Secretary of State's website, lists East Dover resident Robert Girschek as its only member. However, previously filed reports list Barnes' assistant as a contact for the company, and Ken Davis, the Hermitage Club's former chief legal officer, also resigned as 447 HR Brook Bound's registered agent, effective March 25, 2018.

But Brattleboro Savings and Loan's complaint lists Christopher “Kip” Adams, the former owner of the Brook Bound property, as the main defendant in their foreclosure action, and 447 Brook Bound among the secondary defendants.

According to the complaint, Adams purchased the property from James McGovern III in 2004, with a signed promissory note and mortgage from Brattleboro Savings and Loan for $300,000. As of May 2, according to the documents, the loan is in default with a balance due of $334,445.95 “plus accrued interest and other fees and expense.”

In 2015, Brattleboro Savings and Loan attorney Christopher Dugan writes in the complaint, Adams transferred the property to 447 HR Brook Bound. At that time, according to court documents, Adams “failed to pay the note in full at the time of the transfer as required under the note and mortgage. The transfer of the mortgaged property is a default of the note and mortgage.”

According to a property transfer tax return on file at the Wilmington Town Clerk's Office, the total price paid by 447 HR Brook Bound LLC for the property in 2015 was $650,000.
A 2015 warranty deed, also filed with the Wilmington Town Clerk, in which Adams conveys the property to 447 HR Brook Bound indicates that both parties acknowledged there were existing mortgages with outstanding balances. According to the deed, the premises are conveyed “subject to the following mortgages of record and the terms and conditions set forth therein,” and lists the BS&L mortgage, along with a subordinate 2004 mortgage for $150,000 from James L. McGovern III. The deed also states that the “premises are free from every encumbrance, except as aforementioned.”

Trustees of the James L. McGovern III Trust are also listed as defendants in the foreclosure complaint, along with 447 HR Brook Bound, as “individuals or entities who may claim an interest in the mortgaged property, which is subordinate and inferior to (Brattleboro Savings and Loan's) security interest.”

In addition to the listed defendants, the town of Wilmington may also have an interest in the property. According to a tax lien signed by Wilmington Town Manager and Collector of Delinquent Taxes Scott Tucker and filed at the Wilmington Town Clerk's Office in March, 447 HR Brook Bound owes the town $25,759.98 in delinquent taxes, interest, and penalties for 2016 and 2017. Municipal tax liens generally have priority over foreclosure complaints.

Brattleboro Savings and Loan is seeking foreclosure with a 30-day redemption period, a court-ordered sale of the property, court costs, attorney's fees, and other expenses.

Neither Girschek nor Dugan had responded to requests for comment as of press time. Adams referred the Deerfield Valley News to his attorney, John Stansy, who was unavailable for comment.

The Deerfield Valley News

797 VT Route 100 North
Wilmington, VT 05363

Phone: 802-464-3388
Fax: 802-464-7255

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