Company makes first public comments about case since 2021 filings
Tallulah – Two key executives at Graham County Land Company reached settlement agreements with a lender that claimed to be owed millions of dollars by the bankrupted company, and all claims were dismissed against a third company officer.
For defendants Randy Jordan – who is president of Graham County Land Company and National Civil LLC – and John Pressley – partner and vice president – it closes the books on a case that has vexed them for about a year, at least as far as Flexible Funding is concerned.
Flexible Funding also dismissed all claims against Graham County Land Company officer Cecil Patterson on June 30, and defendant Buck Jackson, senior vice president, entered into a settlement agreement earlier this year.
Jordan and Pressley personally guaranteed Graham County Land Company obligations to Flexible Funding.
The settlement agreement was filed July 26 in N.C. Business Court, which was handling the case due to its complexity.
Statement
A press release from Graham County Land Company was provided exclusively to The Graham Star on Tuesday morning.
In its entirety, what follows are the company’s first public comments on the case:
“The owners of Graham County Land Company, Randy Jordan and John Pressley, have reached settlements with both Flexible Funding and the state-court receiver, appointed to manage the company. The settlement was approved by the Bankruptcy Court presiding over Flexible Funding’s Bankruptcy case in the Northern District of Texas on June 21, 2022. Thereafter, the Business Court judge presiding over the Graham County Land Company receivership case approved the settlement on July 26, 2022.
“Flexible Funding originally filed a lawsuit against Graham County Land Company, Randy Jordan, John Pressley and others in September 2021, seeking to recover monies loaned to the company. Shortly after filing the lawsuit, Flexible Funding filed for bankruptcy in Texas. They also pursued Mr. Jordan and Mr. Pressley based upon (a) commercial-guaranty agreement they had signed as part of the loan. While denying all allegations of wrongdoing, Mr. Jordan and Pressley nonetheless agreed to a settlement, under which they will pay a total of $2 million over time, to fully resolve all legal issues with both Flexible Funding and the Graham County Land Company-appointed Receiver.”
Background
Graham County Land Company is a debris-removal company that employs dozens of people in the region and had operations in several states. It was sued by Flexible Funding LLC of Texas in late 2021, claiming Graham County Land Company owed it more than $17 million – a number that escalated as time went by.
The lawsuit forced Graham County Land Company into receivership in October 2021, after the receiver – Alan Weiner of Focus Management Group – determined that Graham County Land could not continue to operate, and was winding up and liquidating the company under the N.C. Commercial Receivership Act.
On March 30, Weiner, Jordan and Pressley participated in a mediated settlement conference in Charlotte, presided over by designated mediator Kevin Sink, in an effort to resolve the claims among them. The receiver continued to negotiate with the parties after the mediation and through the intercession of the mediator, ultimately agreed upon a resolution.
Moving forward
Included among the terms of the tentative settlement is the release by the receiver of certain Graham County Land assets, including claims against third-party individuals and entities. In exchange for the receiver’s released assets, the settlement agreement requires Jordan and Pressley to assist the receiver moving forward. The receiver and Flexible Funding maintain that any proceeds from the receiver’s hypothetical liquidation of the released assets would ultimately be paid to Flexible Funding, which has a first-priority, blanket lien on essentially all of Graham County Land’s assets, in addition to a substantial claim for financing provided to fund the receivership estate.
Weiner said that the settlement agreement is fair, equitable, reasonable and in the best interests of the receivership estate.
Approval of the settlement agreement promotes the efficient administration of the receivership estate and this case is fair, equitable, reasonable to Graham County Land’s creditors and other parties-in-interest, serves the best interests of the receivership estate, and is otherwise just and proper, according to the court filing. In granting the motion, Special Superior Court Judge Adam Conrad said the receiver will have no further obligation to maintain any records, files, information, or assets that are included among the released assets.
An auction of the company’s rolling stock held in January resulted in $7.733 million in gross proceeds, of which $1.9 million went to Flexible Funding.