By Jim Weiker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Maronda Homes, central Ohio's third-largest homebuilder, has filed for bankruptcy.
The company's primary operations - Maronda Homes, based outside Pittsburgh, Maronda Homes of Ohio and Maronda Homes of Cincinnati - filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday.
Maronda Homes of Ohio, which oversees the company's central Ohio operations, cited assets and liabilities between $100million and $500million.
In the filings, Maronda asked that the court allow it to use cash collateral to continue operations while it resolved a dispute with its lenders.
Maronda said it owes about $98million on a $210million line of credit held by 14 financial institutions led by Bank of America and Wells Fargo but also including Huntington National Bank, PNC Bank, Fifth Third and KeyBank.
Maronda accuses its lenders of insisting on changing the terms of its financial agreement, substantially raising the cost of the borrowing to Maronda. The homebuilder said it renegotiated an agreement that all lenders agreed to except Huntington, leaving it no choice but bankruptcy.
Maronda, which has built homes since 1972, specializes in modestly priced homes targeted at first-time buyers. The company has for years been the area's third-largest homebuilder behind M/I Homes and Dominion. Last year, Maronda sold 137 homes in central Ohio, at an average price of $165,900, according to Binns Real Estate.
The company did not return a call seeking comment, but it said in its filing that it had begun to recover from the slump when its problems with lenders arose.
"Like every homebuilder in the United States, Maronda suffered a serious downturn in its business when the mortgage lending crisis rippled through the home construction industry beginning in 2007-2008," it stated in court filings.
"Unlike many other homebuilders which did not survive, however, Maronda was able to weather the consequences of the industry downturn ... Maronda's business has survived and begun to show signs of improvement: March 2011 was the best sales month for Maronda since the 2009 federally subsidized buyer tax credit expired."
Maronda of Ohio listed 20 unsecured creditors, many of them based in central Ohio. Among the companies owed money are DR Grading & Excavation in Grove City; Majestic Drywall Services of Columbus; Strait & Lamp Lumber Co. of Hebron; and Gale Insulation in Columbus.
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