Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dyson have been forced into bankruptcy. According to their bankruptcy attorney, the real estate market’s dismal state during this economic crisis was the culprit. As news about record foreclosures and bankruptcies in Riverside and San Bernardino County cities such as Corona, Rancho Cucamonga, and Riverside, it is not too surprising that the real estate market that had given so much, ended up taking away as much as it gave.
From the North County Times online article:
“A couple who made a name and fortune in high-class coastal real estate have crashed into bankruptcy and are asking a court to erase more than $40 million in debt, including $625,000 that stemmed from alleged misuse of a helicopter loan.
According to court filings, property records and interviews, the couple, Robert and Loraine Dyson, shut down their Solana Beach real estate brokerage, an affiliate of Sotheby’s International Realty, in October. They also filed for personal bankruptcy and have apparently scotched plans to develop an equestrian resort and estates in central Riverside County…
The Dysons’ financial unraveling was as spectacular as their ambition. The couple own a $7 million estate in Rancho Santa Fe and —- until recently —- several other residences in the most exclusive areas of the Southern California coast and the San Jacinto Mountains.
Press releases from their real estate agency reported billions of dollars of annual sales. Their charitable foundation parceled out tens of thousands of dollars.
The Dysons’ slide into bankruptcy followed an attempt to transform themselves from high-end real estate agents into high-end developers at what may have been the worst possible time.
They put some $30 million into property in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains starting in late 2005, with plans for equestrian estates that would eventually ramble over nearly 2,500 acres…
They filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Oct. 30, estimating their debts at $50 million to $100 million and their assets at $1 million to $10 million. A debtor who qualifies for Chapter 7 can usually keep a car and other necessities, subject to limits on their value; other assets are sold off to cover portions of the debt, and the remaining debt is wiped away.
The trustee supervising their bankruptcy recommended in December that the couple abandon the Rancho Santa Fe home that they bought in June 2005 because debt and liens account for nearly its entire $7 million value. A later filing by the trustee recommended they give up a $90,000 leased Porsche sports car and their $3.2 million home in Palm Desert, which is in foreclosure…”
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