• 24
  • August
    2010

An Atlanta developer, John A. Williams, is facing collections litigation by the Bank of North Georgia. The bank claims that Williams owes $45 million in defaulted real estate loans and penalties.  Williams asserts that the loans were forgiven by the Bank of North Georgia in exchange for his security interest in Wakefield Estates, a subdivision in Smyrna.

Williams was a key player in the formation and success of the Bank of North Georgia. In the mid-1990s, he and Kessell Stelling, Jr. acquired a controlling interest in a bank that later merged with the Bank of North Georgia. Now, he is facing a lawsuit by the same business partner with whom he brought about the bank's success. Williams' attorney has stated that the lawsuit is "just a contract dispute" and "nothing personal."

This collections lawsuit is the latest in a string of financial problems facing Williams and his companies. Over the past couple of years, other properties owned by Williams were involved in foreclosure proceedings and collections litigation. For example, he recently lost The Mansion, a hotel and condo tower in Buckhead, to foreclosure. His loans for the Hampton Island Preserve golf community were also in default and the subject of litigation.

In the dispute with the Bank of North Georgia, Williams claims that he is no longer responsible for repaying the real estate loans. He cites an agreement that Northside Guaranty, one of his companies, made with the bank in October 2009. The Bank of North Georgia's spokeswoman Sherri Morgan prepared a statement stating that the bank "plan[s] to vigorously advance [their] position in this matter."

Source: Atlanta Business Chronicle, "John Williams, Synovus in court over loans," Ben Smith, 20 Aug 2010