Assisted living facility files Chapter 11

The Pines at Edgewood Centre, a 16-bed for-profit assisted-living facility in Portsmouth, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, claiming at least $500,000 in debts.

The filing came in conjunction with another Chapter 11 filing for the Anchorage Inn motel in Burlington, Vt. Both facilities are owned by David Ramsey, who emphasized that nothing would be interrupted in term of the clients or the employees.

“The Pines is fine,” Ramsey told NHBR Daily from his office in York, Maine. In 1984, Ramsey founded the Pines on the site of a former doctor’s estate — the highest point in Portsmouth.

In his filing, Ramsey said that the Pines (whose legal name is Whispering Pines Estate Inc.) is declaring bankruptcy even though the home is at least 90 percent occupied, primarily with “private pay” clients, and its operations are stable, with roughly the same amount of income as expenses, according to the filing. But the Pines has been unable to refinance its debt to two companies, Pioneer Capital Corp. (which has a $815,000 note) and Flash Island Inc. (which is owed $425,000), both based in Portland, Maine.

The facility also may owe $125,000 in unpaid payroll taxes, the filing said. While the loans were for both facilities, the legal collateral is against the Pines, and the bankruptcy is aimed at halting an attempt to foreclose on the facility, Ramsey said.

“This was just done for breathing room to put our reorganization together,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey was seeking emergency court approval to pay his 13 workers out of that collateral and continue operations. – BOB SANDERS