The Ramada Jamestown Hotel is under new management.
Following last month's auction stemming from a bankruptcy case, Milind Oza, former operator, is no longer in control of the hotel.
On Nov. 29, the hotel premise was sold at an auction. The State Bank of Texas was the plaintiff in the case against Kaanam, LLC, which is controlled by Oza. Last month, Carl Person, Oza's attorney, said the auction was the consequence for failing to reorganize during bankruptcy proceedings. In September 2010, Oza voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Western New York Bankruptcy Court. Because Oza didn't reorganize, bankruptcy court ruled in favor of State Bank of Texas, which decided to foreclose on the property.
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Oza said, to the best of his knowledge, the State Bank of Texas bid $2.2 million for the property during the auction.
''There were no other bidders, so the bank got it themselves,'' he said.
Oza said prior to the auction, the State Bank of Texas had arranged for a new management team to run the hotel after the auction.
''David Stahl (the new operator of the hotel) came before time and I walked him through. This is business, not a personal thing,'' Oza said. ''On Nov. 29, they took over the place.''
Phone calls by The Post-Journal to Stahl and the State Bank of Texas' attorney, Franklin Heller, were not returned by press time.
Oza said there is an appeal in process in his bankruptcy case. Last month, Person said Oza will win the appeal because the State Bank of Texas allegedly didn't loan all the money they were scheduled to, which led to problems in upgrading the hotel. According to Person, the State Bank of Texas didn't lend $433,000 to Oza for hotel upgrades causing him to have a shortage of working capital.
Heller said the case being appealed is on a promissory note between the State Bank of Texas and Oza, not on the mortgage loan.
''No (the appeal) shouldn't have any affect on the foreclosure,'' Heller said last month.
Person said Heller's argument in court is that the promissory note and the mortgage are two separate loans. Person said, in his opinion, it is all the same loan.
''I'm not giving up on my legal rights,'' Oza said Wednesday. ''We're in the process of making an argument.''
Person said Wednesday he is not sure what happened during the auction last month.
''I didn't get the results myself directly,'' Person said. ''I don't know anymore than what (Oza) told me.''
Person said he is still very ''active'' with the appeal.
According to a court document filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of New York, On Dec. 10, Carl L. Bucki, U.S. bankruptcy judge, ordered the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case dismissed. The order approved the motion by the U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis to dismiss the case based upon the debtor, Oza, failing to establish a feasible bankruptcy plan.