Evansville City staff to report on delinquent loans, collections process after multiple defaults

Board members discussed several delinquent loans in the city’s revolving loan portfolio and directed staff to compile a collections status report and recommendation on uncollectible accounts.

Bridal, a staff member who manages loan tracking, reported that two loans recently were paid off by Black Chat Media and that two other loans are delinquent and have not yet been referred to the city attorney. A board member asked specifically about Professional Furniture Services, which Bridal said had not made a payment for 11 months. Bridal also said another account (referred to in the transcript as "suites, Schmidt") and other accounts have not made payments since June.

A board member asked whether accounts in collections are handled by the city’s outside counsel or in-house. Nick, identified in the transcript as the collections staff contact, said the city has a collections department; once an account goes to collections the city will file suit where collectible and pursue claims through the city’s process. Nick said he would provide an update on specific accounts at the next meeting.

Members discussed whether to write off uncollectible accounts. Nick recommended generating a status report on amounts in collections and making recommendations for potential write-offs so the board can “clean up some of the old stuff.” The discussion included examples of accounts with intermittent payments (Fountain View) and a debtor who opened a new business (the Protein House) despite past delinquencies (Chelsea Fit Factory). No formal vote was taken; staff were asked to gather details and return with recommendations.

The board also briefly discussed moving the start time of the executive session at a future meeting from 9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.; no formal action was recorded.