Foreclosure filed on Vreba-Hoff dairies
10/10/2010HUDSON, Mich. - A mortgage company is seeking to foreclose on $55 million in loans to Vreba-Hoff dairies in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio.
The Daily Telegram of Adrian reports Delaware-based Rabo Agrifinance filed the foreclosure complaint Tuesday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Mich.
A judge is to hear an emergency motion Oct. 19 on a request to appoint a receiver to take over three dairies with thousands of cows near Hudson and three others in Fulton County.
Rabo Agrifinance alleged Vreba-Hoff defaulted on loan payments and allowed property taxes to go unpaid.
A dairy spokesman had no immediate comment.
On Tuesday, the state of Michigan filed a $580,000 lien against Vreba-Hoff LLC's two dairies in Lenawee and Hillsdale counties after the company allegedly failed to pay an agreed-upon settlement in a 2003 environmental case.
Judge James Giddings gave the state and the dairy until Oct. 18 to reach a settlement, including any outstanding financial issues regarding the operation of a pair of 2,000-head dairies.