Fresno’s Assemi family faces another lawsuit from a lender claiming the family owes tens of millions of dollars in defaulted loans.
The lawsuit comes just weeks after a federal judge approved a receiver to take over the family’s farming operations to see through the fall pistachio harvest.
The big picture: Brighthouse Life Insurance Co., a former division of MetLife Inc., filed a lawsuit on Oct. 10 claiming the Assemi family has failed to pay over $48.6 million from nine defaulted loans from MetLife and its affiliated companies.
- The lawsuit states that the Assemi family and its farming entities – Maricopa Orchards and Touchstone Pistachio Company – have experienced extreme financial difficulties and are unable to repay their loans.
Driving the news: Brighthouse is the fourth lender to take the Assemi family to court in the last month.
- Prudential Insurance Company of America and PGIM Real Estate Finance sued the Assemis for breach of contract in September, alleging the family defaulted on over $705 million in loans.
- U.S. Bank National Association also filed a lawsuit last month claiming the Assemis failed to pay $72 million in loans.
Flashback: Along with the court-appointed receiver, U.S. District Court Judge Kirk Sheriff also approved $32 million last month from Prudential for the receiver to manage the Assemi family’s 50,000 acres of farmland.
- Sheriff ruled that the Assemis did not have sufficient cash to care for the land, necessitating the receiver.
What we’re watching: The receiver has been ordered to file a report on Oct. 18, and the lenders and the Assemi family will return to court on Oct. 22 for a hearing to determine if the receivership will be continued.
