Creditors of Yellowstone Club World, a spinoff destination club of the Yellowstone Club, have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. Filed on behalf of four creditors claiming $4.65 million in refunds for membership deposits to Yellowstone Club World, Angus MacNaughton, Edgar Rainin, and Yoav Rubinstein are each requesting $1.5 million and Thomas Hook is requesting $150,000.
Yellowstone Club World ceased operations last year amid a public ownership battle and divorce of Tim and Edra Blixseth. Edra eventually won ownership of the club and promised to monetize several of the clubs properties.
Envisioned as the most elite destination club in the industry, Tim Blixseth scoured the globe looking for luxury vacation properties for the club's exclusive 150 members. Once comparing the search to "Easter egg hunting," the club included the Chateau de Farcheville in France, the El Tamarindo resort in Mexico, and a private golf club near St. Andrews in Scotland. Designed to charge as much as $10 million to join, the club failed to get off the ground, counting only a select few Yellowstone Club members who upgraded to join. In September of 2008, Yellowstone Club World ceased operations.
In November of 2008, Yellowstone Club, the Montana based resort that preceded Yellowstone Club World, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to the first court filings, Yellowstone Club cited a combined debt of $344 million and assets of roughly $1.1 billion.
According to John Amsden, a lawyer representing Yellowstone Club World members, at least one of the properties available to Yellowstone Club World members is being used as leverage in the Yellowstone Club Chapter 11 proceedings.
"We're concerned the assets they do have are no longer in control of the Yellowstone Club World," said Amsden. "The involuntary bankruptcy was necessary because it appears that there is no one minding the club's business. We hope that the matter can be resolved with a minimum of expense."
Through the Chapter 7 filing, the creditors seek to find who and what entity controls the properties of Yellowstone Club World.
"The members of the Yellowstone Club World were promised access to very specific and significant properties in return for their significant membership dues. They anticipate that their interests to those properties will be respected," Amsden continued.
Within 20 days, the court will appoint a trustee who will begin to sort through the club's assets.
The Chapter 7 filing puts two destination clubs on the polar opposite of the spectrum in the same boat this week. High Country Club, the most inexpensive destination club in the industry, also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Original Article
Yellowstone Club World Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
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