Attorney, bank resolve case on loan defaults

A St. Louis County judge approved a $1.4 million consent judgment against attorney and real estate developer Steve Murphy after a local bank sued him for not repaying multiple loans.

Pulaski Bank sued Murphy, his wife, Pamela Murphy, and SCM-PBM, a company whose registered agent is Steve Murphy, in March 2011 for four counts of breach of contract and one for breach of guaranty. The bank claimed the defendants didn’t pay back balances of four loans, which originally totaled about $1.5 million.

In an interview, Murphy, an attorney at the St. Louis-based firm Devereux Murphy, said the money was for development of the mixed-use real estate project Chouteau’s Landing, located in downtown St. Louis near Busch Stadium. Murphy is founder of Chivvis Development, which is behind the project.

Judge David Vincent on Dec. 27 approved a consent judgment finding in favor of Pulaski Bank for breach of contract against SCM-PBM and breach of guaranty against the Murphys.

Murphy in December settled another lawsuit also filed by Pulaski Bank. That suit dealt with money owed for warehouse property in St. Louis County, he said. The case has been settled on terms that Murphy pays back the loan, he said. He said the settlement in that case was comparable to the $1.4 million amount in the Chouteau’s Landing suit, declining to provide the exact terms.

About both suits, Murphy said: “They’re real estate loans in which I got behind on the payments and I’m glad to have worked both out.”

Murphy said he assembled a number of properties for the Chouteau’s Landing development. He said the mixed-use development has stalled.

“There isn’t any demand,” he said, adding that he’s waiting for the economy to improve.

Murphy also faces a lawsuit by Royal Banks of Missouri accusing him of failing to pay back a loan which, according to the petition, had a balance of $306,149 on Aug. 31.

Dan McNamee, an attorney for Pulaski Bank, declined to comment on the $1.4 million consent judgment and the case. mo

■  $1.4 million judgment

Contracts

■ Venue: St. Louis County Circuit Court

■ Case Number/Date: 11SL-CC01094/Dec. 27, 2011

■ Judge: David Vincent III

■ Caption: Pulaski Bank v. SCM-PBM LLC, Stephen C. Murphy and Pamela B. Murphy

■ Plaintiff’s Attorney: Daniel Joseph McNamee, King, Krehbiel, Hellmich & Borbonus, St. Louis

■ Defendants’ Attorney: Stephen Murphy, Devereux Murphy, St. Louis, representing himself and others