J&E Land Co. Inc., a Jasper-based real estate firm, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing debts of more than $7.4 million to a list of creditors that includes Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey.
The development and leasing company, which also operates Eagle Self Storage, reported in its voluntary filing May 2 that it has assets valued at about $9.9 million, including properties like the Maloy Ford Lincoln dealership in Jasper.
J&E majority owner Gerald Ivey told me today that he filed the petition for his business, which he "built from nothing," because "vulture capitalists got a hold of us, and Regions Bank sold us to them."
"We're trying our best to stay in business," he added. The firm has fewer than 50 employees, the filing shows.
The biggest creditor listed was ECP Financial II LLC, which took over the debt from Regions. The LLC, which the Secretary of State's Office records show shares an address with California-based Western Liability Management Inc., has a $6 million claim for a mortgage signed in 2003 with Regions.
A representative for Regions declined to comment.
The second largest creditor was Gary Ivey, mayor of Hoover, with a claim of $900,000 from a mortgage signed in March 2010, bankruptcy documents show. Ivey confirmed via email that he is a creditor and that he and J&E's owner are first cousins.
J&E also owed $350,000 from a 2012 mortgage to Bank of Walker County, $100,000 in real estate taxes to Walker County, $65,000 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and $22,000 in taxes to Alabama, the filing said.
The company filed for bankruptcy after Birmingham-based real estate firm Baker & Associates LLC, under the authority of ECP Financial, sent letters to J&E's tenants telling them his firm would collect their rents, according to bankruptcy documents.
Baker & Associates didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Update: This story was changed to reflect the relationship between Hoover's mayor and the owner of J&E.