By Brenna Kelly
Enquirer staff writer
BURLINGTON - Florence wants a judge to order Connie and Chuck Hildebrant to pay the city $200,000 in rent that the Florence Freedom's owners failed to pay last month.
In a motion filed Monday in Boone Circuit Court, city attorney Peter Koenig asks for a partial default judgment against the Hildebrants because the couple failed to respond to a lawsuit the city filed against them Aug. 23.
The city wants the Hildebrants to be held responsible for the $197,617 lease payment that Northern Kentucky Professional Baseball was supposed to make Aug. 10.
The city leased the baseball ownership group 35 acres of city-owned land for the stadium. The Hildebrants personally guaranteed the lease and told the city they had enough assets to cover the cost of the stadium and fulfill the lease obligations.
"The city will zealously and aggressively pursue collection of the money that the Hildebrants owe to the city of Florence," Koenig said. "We will leave no stone unturned."
The city also claims that the financial statements Hildebrant provided are a "gross overstatement of his financial condition." The city is asking for punitive damages from the Hildebrants.
The lawsuit also names the baseball ownership group and the contractors who filed liens against the project. Because the ownership group filed for bankruptcy, that part of the lawsuit is on hold.
The motion filed Monday also asks the judge to set a hearing to determine whether the Hildebrants are liable for $4.7 million in liens.
The lease said the stadium had to be debt-free.
In addition to problems with the city, federal authorities are investigating how Hildebrant financed the stadium's construction.
Hildebrant also owes $4.5 million to two banks after judges ordered him to repay several loans. Last week, several of Chuck Hildebrant's relatives sued him, Connie Hildebrant and others, alleging he mortgaged 204 acres of Warren County land he doesn't own and used faked documents to do so.
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E-mail bkelly@enquirer.com
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