Receivership order stays Sheriff's sale of Columbia Pulp I, LLC

DAYTON–The Sheriff's Sale on the real property of Columbia Pulp I, LLC, previously set for Friday, April 15, has been stayed as a result of the innovative wheat-straw-to-pulp enterprise being ordered into receivership in a King County court.

The action was initiated by UMB Bank, N.A., trustee for the holders of the bonds that financed Columbia Pulp I, LLC (CPI). Attorneys for UMB Bank filed documents and made oral argument at a hearing in Seattle Tuesday, April 12, before Commissioner Henry H. Judson.

The receivership was ordered and a receiver appointed, and per state law, appointment of a receiver constitutes a stay of the enforcement of a $758,490 default judgment, in this case, the order for the Columbia County Sheriff to sell CPI's real property to the highest bidder.

John H. Guin, attorney for DKB, Inc., which had obtained a judgment against CPI in December, 2021, informed the Columbia County Sheriff's Office that the stay is in effect for 60 days.

The King County court appointed Lance Miller of Paladin Management Group, LLC as receiver. Attorneys for UMB Bank is Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP of Seattle.

In appointing a receiver, possession and control of its 40-acre parcel near Starbuck in Columbia County is in the hands of the receiver.