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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Metropolitan Mortgage

In January 2004, Metropolitan Mortgage declared bankruptcy, taking down with it the fortunes of many investors who placed their trust in the decades-old Spokane company.

News >  Spokane

Then and Now: Union Pacific rail yard

Now the site of the Kendall Yards mixed use development, the area northwest of downtown Spokane and the river was once home to the Union Pacific rail yard. The railroad moved out of the area in 1955, but development of new housing, retail and commercial businesses did not proceed in earnest until after the economic downturn of 2008.
News >  Spokane

Open space designation fields many nominees in county

Three dozen properties have been nominated for purchase by Spokane County’s Conservation Futures program. The candidates to become permanent open space vary from half an acre to 920 acres and are scattered across the county.
News >  Spokane

Settlement squeezes out a bit more Met money

C. Paul Sandifur Jr., the former chairman and chief executive officer of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., will pay $23,000 to investors in the bankrupt company as part of a class-action settlement reached with executives. It’s the last money expected to be paid out by the former CEO, whose father founded the Spokane company in the 1950s.

News >  Spokane

New settlement in Met suit

A $38 million settlement proposed Tuesday in the Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. class action lawsuit would help several thousand investors recoup some losses from Spokane’s largest business collapse. Investors sued the bankrupted company’s outside auditors and former executives six years ago.
News >  Spokane

Met Mortgage creditors get 2 more cents on the dollar

More checks are in the mail for creditors of bankrupt Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. This third round of partial payouts splits about $10.4 million among 15,500 people who held unsecured bonds in the once-prominent Spokane company and its Idaho affiliate, Summit Securities Inc.
News >  Spokane

Amid cleanup dispute, project could have new developer

An $8 million legal dispute has erupted over the bill to clean up pollutants at Kendall Yards, the stalled housing and business project along the north bank of the Spokane River in downtown Spokane. The scenario unfolds as property owner Marshall Chesrown may be closing in on a deal with an undisclosed developer that could jump-start work.
News >  Business

Ex-Met officer has filed Chapter 7 papers

Thomas Masters, a former Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Co. executive implicated in one of the fraudulent real estate schemes that unraveled the firm, has filed a $26 million personal bankruptcy and moved to Nevada to seek work. Masters had five development projects under way, including three in the Tri-Cities and two in Spokane – one each in Hillyard and the Five Mile area. When investors withdrew financing for the projects, Masters decided to avoid the personal guarantees he made on developments by filing for bankruptcy, said his attorney, Dan O’Rourke.
News >  Business

Sandifur to pay $150,000 settlement

C. Paul Sandifur, the former chief executive officer of bankrupt Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., will pay $150,000 to refund investors and settle allegations that he improperly paid himself dividends as the company failed.
News >  Spokane

Met investors to get $45 million

About $45 million is set to be distributed to investors of Metropolitan Mortgage and Securities Inc. at the end of next week. It will be the second repayment following the bankruptcy of the $2.3 billion Spokane-based financial conglomerate 4 ½ years ago.