Parties put foreclosure lawsuit on hold while bank tries to sell ranch

A local judge has agreed to put a debt-collection lawsuit on hold, while renowned journalist, former hostage and one-time Ohio Senate candidate Terry Anderson attempts to sell his 230-acre horse ranch in Rome Township.

According to a motion filed on May 13 in the case by an attorney for the creditor, James Brent Hayes, the parties in the case "œhave agreed to a partial resolution" of issues surrounding the sale of the property, and how this sale will be handled.

Both sides in the case, according to the motion, have agreed to let Hocking Valley Bank market the ranch through the end of this year, and they have asked Athens County Common Pleas Judge L. Alan Goldsberry to stay Hayes' debt-collection action during that period.

"The requested stay should permit sufficient time for the (property) to be marketed and sold so as to generate the highest return," wrote Hayes' attorney, Frederick L. Oremus, in the motion.

Goldsberry granted the motion in a journal entry filed May 19.

Hayes, a local developer, filed a foreclosure action against Anderson last June. He claimed he lent Anderson $150,000 in May 2007, and Anderson failed to repay it.

As collateral, Anderson had allegedly pledged Willow Run Ranch, a horse stable and riding school Anderson operated on River Road in Rome Township. The ranch is located near Anderson's Athens County home.

With interest and late-payment penalties figured in, Hayes sought to collect over $286,000 from Anderson.

A former U.S. Marine and journalist, Anderson was kidnapped in 1985 by the Hezbollah Shiite Muslim organization in Beirut, and spent a record six years and nine months in captivity.

After his release in December 1991, he sued in a U.S. court over his abduction, and according to published reports, collected about $26 million in damages from frozen bank assets of the Iranian government, which allegedly was supporting Hezbollah.

He ran as a Democrat in 2004 against Republican Joy Padgett for the 20th District Ohio Senate seat, and lost.

According to documents filed in the case by Susan Gwinn, who represents Anderson in the foreclosure case, Hayes holds a first mortgage on two parcels of land owned by Anderson, which are appraised at more than $500,000, with a second mortgage held by Hocking Valley Bank.