North Shore seeks to place Columbine’s case against it on hold

LOVELAND — Attorneys for North Shore Manor Inc. have asked the judge hearing the case filed against it by vendors affiliated with Columbine Management Services Inc. to place the case on hold until North Shore Manor’s case against Columbine is determined.

North Shore Manor had earlier asked the court to merge the two cases — one filed by North Shore against Columbine, Robert Wilson, Wapello Holdings LLC and unnamed John Doe defendants, and the other filed by Columbine vendors seeking payment for goods and services supplied to North Shore’s nursing home in Loveland. 

The judge ruled against merger of the cases, saying they were different enough to complicate the hearing of either.

The latest motion seeks to delay the Columbine vendors-filed case until the other case is heard, which may not be until January 2025 based upon the case schedule on file with Larimer County District Court. The cases, while filed in the same district court, are being heard by different judges.

North Shore Manor argued that Columbine, in a hearing May 14, confirmed to the court that the listed vendors are the previously unnamed John Does listed in the original case. The identification of the John Does is evidence that the cases deal with the same basic issues, the attorneys said. In a related matter, North Shore has filed to amend its original lawsuit to name the John Doe defendants.

The parties have battled for more than a year, beginning in bankruptcy court and now in district court, over control of the nursing home at 1365 N. 29th St. in Loveland. Majority owners, who have 85% of the shares, claim that Wilson with his 15% and his Columbine companies improperly used his control as managing partner to divert money from the organization by overcharging for supplies and services. Wilson seeks payment for those supplies and services.

In a related case, North Shore Associates LLP, the owner of the real estate on which the nursing home operates, has asked the bankruptcy court to deny a motion to dismiss the bankruptcy. The motion to dismiss was filed by the bankruptcy trustee, who said that North Shore Associates had failed to follow court procedure by regularly filing financial reports and had not paid the trustee for services as required. 

North Shore Associates’ attorney argued that because the bankruptcy case had been placed in abeyance by the court until arbitration occurred over the organization’s partnership agreement, it was unclear that monthly financial reports were required. She said that North Shore Associates has brought those monthly reports up to date and has paid the trustee.

The attorney, Keri Riley of Kutner Brinen Dickey Riley PC, also told the bankruptcy judge that an arbitration hearing had been conducted Sept. 13, 2023, but no order or judgment had been entered in the arbitration. “To the best of the debtor’s knowledge, a trial in the arbitration is set for January 2025.”

“Wapello and Mr. Wilson have a vested interest in the dismissal of the debtor’s case, as it negates the purpose of the arbitration. This court determined arbitration was necessary … Dismissal of the debtor’s case will undoubtedly be followed in short order by a foreclosure action from Wapello …,” she wrote.

Wapello and the Columbine vendors, as previously reported, have supported the trustee’s motion to dismiss and have sought payment of all of North Shore Associates’ cash. “Granting relief from stay does not displace the residents (of the nursing home). It simply means that the building will be lender-owned,” meaning owned by Wilson’s company Wapello Holdings, Wapello wrote in its filing.  

The cases are:

North Shore Associates LLP, Chapter 11 case number 23-10808 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado.

Centre Elderly Transportation Inc., et al, versus North Shore Manor Inc., case number 2024cv30100 filed in Larimer County District Court on Feb. 5, 2024.

The case is North Shore Manor Inc. v. J. Robert Wilson, Columbine Management Services Inc. Wapello Holdings LLC and John Does I-X, case number 2023cv30883, filed Oct. 27, 2023, in Larimer County District Court.

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