Mall owner CBL & Associates Properties Inc. is alleging in a lawsuit that a bank acting as the agent for some of its lenders forced CBL to file for bankruptcy this week on an accelerated timeline.
“While the company intended to have a deliberate and thoughtful entry into Chapter 11, it was left to scramble for an emergency filing over a weekend due to the entirely unlawful, unnecessary, and unprovoked conduct of the administrative agent,” CBL said in the suit.
Chattanooga-based CBL said in the suit that the agent, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, is trying to exercise control over some of the mall operator’s properties, including Northgate Mall in Hixson. Some 22 CBL properties were used as collateral to a credit line the lenders earlier extended to CBL.
CBL said Wells Fargo late last month sent almost 400 letters to over 200 tenants at the properties, directing them to begin paying rent to Wells Fargo rather than to CBL.
“Wells Fargo’s unlawful conduct has created chaos and confusion for CBL’s tenants and forced CBL to file for bankruptcy on an accelerated timeline and, if not immediately restrained, threatens to jeopardize the success” of the company’s Chapter 11 reorganization, the lawsuit said.