Wisconsin bank goes after Pinal developers

PINAL COUNTY — A Milwaukee-based bank is asking for court judgments against at least five Pinal County developers who have defaulted on their loans in the wake of the nation’s economic recession and Arizona’s sagging real estate market.

M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank has filed numerous lawsuits in Pinal County Superior Court recently seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers who have dried up. Chief among them is Pueblo One LLC, a Chandler-based developer who had bought land near Royce and Arizona Farm roads in Queen Creek.

That deal went through in April 2006, when the real estate market was peaking. Since then, however, the bank claims Pueblo One has been unable to pay off a $565,000 loan it received to buy the 5.75-acre property.

In September, the bank put the property up for sale at a trustee sale. The market value of the land at the time had sunk to $175,794, according to court records. The bank is now seeking a judgment for the difference – about $422,000 – if the land value remains steady.

The suit against Pueblo One is just one of several that M&I Marshall and Ilsley bank has been filing recently. Court records show a flurry of lawsuits have been filed in Pinal and Pima counties since late November.

In Pinal County, the bank has filed similar actions against Skyline Development Group LLC, Sangwon Yum, Sagwoo Jun, and Horace Kim ($192,000) and Double Diamond Inc., which is doing business as Sugar Creek Development ($29,000).

Phoenix lawyer Leonard J. McDonald Jr. is representing the bank.