Being a sports legend doesn’t excuse one from bankruptcy, as Oscar Robertson has recently found out. The man faces a foreclosure on his chemical company in Fairfield, Ohio, for nearly $200,000 in back property taxes and interest payments. According to court records, Robertson and his wife owe more than $2.4 million in loans on their chemical company building, and one of the banks has filed a cross-claim for a judgment against Robertson. A cross-claim is a claim that is asserted between defendants and co-plaintiffs in a case and relates to the subject of the original claim. Essentially, this claim is filed against someone who is a co-defendant or co-plaintiff and is a demand that is made in a pleading filed against a party on the same side.

Robertson’s company is called Orchem Corp., and has 14 open tax liens filed against it by Ohio officials. Seven of these liens were filed last month on August 24. Altogether, the tax liens total at about $12,500. Most of them are unpaid sales taxes and two shipping companies claim that the company owes them $83,000. When money gets tight, it’s easy to see how expenses add up, and a loan here and there can turn into insurmountable debt. Now, the bank wants to foreclose on the building that Robertson uses, effectively killing his chemical company in the process. Yet having learned from his experience on the NBA courts, Robertson won’t give up. He has chosen to schedule an appointment in a Common Pleas Court to ask his debtors to set aside the foreclosure. If his lawyer is able to adequately explain why the building needs to be left untouched, then Robertson may be able to carry on with his company after all.

Las month, Robertson appealed to a judge’s ruling putting the property up for sheriff’s sale. USA Today says that Robertson never received the original foreclosure notice because he no longer works at the building. He runs the company from his home, but still sends many workers to the offices in Fairfield every single day. Because he did not work at the actual building, Robertson didn’t catch wind of the foreclosure papers until August 15^th. Robertson made the trip out to the Fairfield offices to talk with an associate about the business and evaluate where they could improve. There, he was hit with the terrible news. He was baffled, and explained to the court that he hadn’t worked at the office for a year because of his wife’s health. He preferred to do his business from an office in his home where he could still monitor his ailing spouse.

While Robertson knew that he was in debt on the property, he had no idea that the situation had gotten so serious. The former NBA star had borrowed $2.1million from the Tower Bank & Trust in 2003, and refinanced in 2011. The loan was allegedly due on the last day of 2011, but when the payment didn’t come in the bank proceeded to take legal action. Orchem is considered the nation’s largest minority owned specialty chemical company and experiments with all sorts of cures and cleaners within their facility. The company has already emerged from a bankruptcy that was filed in 1996, but is still struggling. New investors have tried to soften the blow but have yet to save the company from its apparent fate. Talk to a real estate attorney if you are struggling with a foreclosure suit at your home or business. You need a tenacious lawyer on your side to help defend you in court and request more time for you to get the money you need! Talk to us today!