DFL015 - P****** Court, L********, K****** DEFAULT

Failed a re-finance 3 times usually means no one wants it anything like on decent terms. Of course the original figs would initially have looked fine n dandy to get the project financing away.....

Seems they have ordered lightly grilled for the borrower, and well and truly done for the lenders.

Select your own side dishes.

I Think in this modern time nothing will be turned to gold as Midas is in jail for ”inappropriate touching “

Further cases of historical misdeeds being investigated. 

Oh, the irony...



Now, what do the loan updates say?

August - Further to discussions with the borrower, we can confirm that a refinance offer has been agreed. The Solicitors are instructed and matters are moving forward, with the completion aimed for the end of August 2019. No further action will be taken on possession proceedings prior to 31st August 2019 on the basis the refinance is proceeding.

September - Further to last month’s update the borrower has provided outline terms of a potential refinance, however this does not provide a satisfactory outcome for investors so we have asked the borrower to reconsider their offer. The appointed LPA receiver’s solicitors have already obtained an order for possession of the property and if a satisfactory proposal for refinance can not be agreed, then the LPA will need to consider the next steps.

October - The borrower has failed to provide any evidence or ability to be in a position to repay the outstanding debt. We are considering what action to be taken following discussions with our solicitors.

...and here we are in March... Meanwhile, their Sunday lunches appear to sell out regularly.

...and now they've been awarded a "Traveller's Choice" award on a rather large internet bookings and ratings site, which allegedly puts them in the "top 10% of restaurants worldwide"...

Not reopened yet, though, post-Covid.

Let's have a conversation, absolutely. But why not do it here? Registering to comment is quick and easy.



So what do us lenders know? Only what Ly have told us... Maybe you can't see that, so I'll precis it:


As we both know, the loan was initially drawn down in Feb 2017.

Tranche 1 was £470k for nine months. Tranche 2 came along a couple of weeks later, taking it to £650k for nine months. Tranche 3 mid-April, then Tranche 4 in May taking it to £900k. Tranche 5 in August. The term was formally extended by six months in November 2017. By April 2018, and the opening of the C***** S***, we were up to Tranche 9 with a reassurance that refinancing would happen in time for the agreed term expiry. It's showing on the platform now as £1.25m borrowed. 

May 2018 was the first loan comment about the loan being overdue for repayment.

The loan comments state that receivers weren't appointed until August 2018, once your attempts to refinance fell through.

Then by late September 2018, there was another plan involving equity investors... By the start of November 2018, that had fallen through, too, and we were being offered a significant shortfall in our capital. That was when seeking vacant possession was first mentioned.

February and March 2019 saw further refinancing and purchase offers on the table, but they fell through.

In May 2019, Ly hit the skids and RSM came in... A year after the amended date, two and a quarter years into the original nine month term.

In July 2019, the courts agreed a 28-day possession order, but it didn't take long for that to be put on hold to try to rescue the situation.

By September 2019, there was talk of another refinance.

But by the end of October 2019, we were being told there was no sign of repayment or refinance... So, by that last comment we were already a year and a half past the repayment being due. And that's nearly a year ago now.

That's what we know of this situation. Perhaps that's not quite the same as the view from your perspective? So tell us. But doing half the story on Facebook seems a bit... public... don't you think? Do you really want all your customers knowing this fairly sorry timeline...? Remember, as a lender, I'm contractually bound not to <hides cape, puts underpants back inside> reveal my identity to a borrower.

Meanwhile, here we are, two and a quarter years after that first "overdue" comment, over three and a half years after we lent you the money for a year... and we'd quite like it back. "All of it" would be very nice. "Most of it" will be acceptable by now. Even "some of it" would be an improvement from our perspective...


I'm on your side. I want you to succeed. Your place is lovely, and has immense scope. Yes, I have reservations about the location (and you can't really say I'm wrong, can you?) - but it's such a shame your plans to develop the site haven't got further forward - even before the current situation - and I agree with you about re-openings in the present climate.

We're not the greatest fans of Ly here, these days, either... So if we're all being lied to... It'd be nice to hear your side. Right now, we're all thinking "Yep, perhaps they did behave badly, but only after they needed to bring in the recoveries because you guys weren't repaying..." - and frankly, with a lot of other loans, a bit more aggression in the recovery department would have been welcome.