FARGO, N.D. - A creditor group from Colorado is proceeding with the sale of some foreclosed property in Walsh County, including the former home of former farmer and elevator owner Tom Grabanski of Grafton, N.D.
A general partnership called Horse Creek Farms on April 24 secured a court order to force an auction of five properties in the Grafton area belonging to Tom and Mari Grabanski to satisfy a $1 million judgment against a North Dakota partnership called Colorado Farms. The auction is scheduled at 10:30 a.m., July 30, at the Walsh County Courthouse. The notice was signed June 28 by James Kosmatka, Walsh County sheriff’s deputy.
The sale is designed to help satisfy a judgment totaling more than $1 million from June 21, 2010.
The parcels total nearly $229,000 in “true and full” value, according to Grafton and Walsh County tax records. They include two homes - a former residence of the Grabanskis, valued at $180,500. The Grabanskis now live and farm in Paris, Texas. Other parcels include a $41,500 house on three lots, various lots in Grafton and one 5.6-acre parcel located 10 miles east and four miles south of Grafton, assessed at a productive value of $3,400.
Colorado Farms purchased land in Springfield, Colo., and was embroiled in a dispute with the federal Risk Management Agency over whether it was eligible for Group Risk Income Protection crop insurance payments.
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Grabanski and groups of partners started farming in Texas and Colorado in 2007 and since then, have been involved in legal action involving some 27 Grabanski-related entities, including a grain elevator in Grafton.
Recently, players in the case have accused Grabanski’s attorney DeWayne Johnston of Grand Forks, N.D., of malpractice because of conflicts of interest. Johnston has asked that those actions be dismissed. Tom and Mari Grabanski were dismissed from their Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization protection in April.
