Indy attorney, developer Page files bankruptcy

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Indianapolis attorney and developer Paul J. Page has filed personal bankruptcy and lists his largest debt as a $6 million guarantee on a downtown Indianapolis condominium project.

Page was one of four principals of troubled Indianapolis-based condo developer Page Development, which spearheaded the Villagio at Page Pointe as well as numerous condo developments in Florida. Most of those have been foreclosed upon, according to court documents.

Page filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Dec. 31 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis. He listed assets of $1.3 million and liabilities of $13.6 million, which includes $12.4 million of unsecured debt.

Page’s major assets include two homes he and his wife own in Indianapolis and Englewood, Fla. His personal property includes a 2009 Cadillac CTS with 78,000 miles valued at $10,000, a pool table worth $200, and $200 of cash on hand.

His income of $351,078 in 2011 shrank to $144,334 in 2012, court documents said.

Among his unsecured debt is the $6 million loan guarantee on the Page Pointe condo project owed to First Horizon Home Loans. He also lists more than $3 million in loan guarantees mainly from his business activity with Page Development, and a $2 million promissory note on a Florida condominium.

Page early last year pleaded guilty to a felony wire fraud charge in U.S. District Court in South Bend, agreeing to testify if called against co-defendants John M. Bales, a real estate broker, and Bales partner William E. Spencer in a Northern District case.

A 14-count indictment in South Bend alleged Page, Bales and Spencer defrauded the state and a bank over their purchase of a building in Elkhart and a subsequent lease deal with the state's Department of Child Services. A jury found Bales and Spencer not guilty.

Page was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for concealing the source of a $362,000 down payment on his purchase of the state-leased office building in Elkhart.

Page is the third Page Development executive to file bankruptcy after the firm’s real estate ventures were upended by the housing crash.

Paul M. Pittman, Page’s law partner and chief financial officer of Page Development, filed Chapter 7 in September 2011. And Tony Page, who was president of the company, filed in July 2010.

Page Development CEO Peter J. Page was the other principal of the company.

Calls to Paul J. Page and his lawyer were not immediately returned.

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