Business & Tech
State Senator's Property Up for Auction on Cumming Courthouse Steps
The failure of Integrity Bank of Alpharetta continues to have fallout as the FDIC decides to sell a property owned by state Sen. Jack Murphy, who was on the bank's board of directors.
One of 13 properties owned by state Sen. Jack Murphy (R-Cumming), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, is set for sale on the courthouse steps after the FDIC decided to sell it in connection with the failure of a bank part-run by the senator.
The roughly one-acre piece of unimproved land near the corner of Tribble Gap Road and Church Street in downtown Cumming is scheduled for auction on July 5, according to a public notice.
In 2006, Murphy took a loan of nearly $228,000 against the land with Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, where he was a director. When the bank crashed in 2008, the FDIC took over the bank and its assets, including that land. Now the FDIC has decided it's time to sell.
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The FDIC has also sued Integrity and its directors and executives, including Murphy, for gross negligence. They're asking $70 million in damages.
In 2009, the acre was worth between $100,000 and $200,000, according to Murphy's last available Personal Financial Disclosure filed with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission. The 2010 disclosure is due July 1, 2011.
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He's also in another case with a failed bank: Atlanta's Siverton Bank has sued him for default on nearly $200,000 against a loan.
Murphy owns a dozen properties besides Tribble Gap, according to the same state financial disclosure. Six of those are units in a downtown condominium.
One of those units is the subject of a separate lawsuit. In December 2010, the owner of the building sued Murphy in Forsyth County Superior Court for allegedly owing some $4,000 in condominium fees.
"I disagree with the amount stated in the complaint," Murphy wrote in his answer to the court, continuing, "There is no breakdown of the charges."
Besides that, a state law pauses court cases involving members of the state legislature during their annual session, usually from mid-January until mid-April. There's been no hearing set yet for the case.
Murphy is chair of the Senate Banking Committee, which oversees all state legislation relating to finance and banks.
The senator did not return any calls for comment.
This story first appeared on Cumming Patch.
