19 B 07692
The court converted the Chapter 11 case filed by Debtor Royalty Properties, LLC to Chapter 7, finding that it was filed in bad faith as a litigation tactic to delay a mortgage foreclosure case filed 10 years ago.  The debt was incurred in 2006 to purchase its main asset, a 400-acre horse farm.  No payments were ever made on the debt. The court also found that the Debtor was using its creditors’ collateral to farm and sell hemp/hemp seeds, a new business for which it had no experience, not to reorganize an existing business. The Debtor and its principals unsuccessfully sued its creditors, including the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois, in state and federal courts many times before it filed for bankruptcy protection.  After the foreclosure case neared conclusion, two more lawsuits were filed against its creditors this year.