Status of mall remains at issue

PINE BLUFF — The Saracen Cinema 8 dispute continues even as The Pines mall is closed, but things have taken a turn as the plaintiffs in the ongoing case say they believe the foreclosure of the mall isn’t legitimate.

In June, the Pine Bluff Commercial reported that the theater owners, Steven Mays Jr. and Okorie Ezieme, had a hearing in circuit court so they could gain access to the theater building that they had purchased last year from Pines mall owner Judy Vu. The defendants named on the court documents — James Vu, Thuytien Vu and John Vu — are listed as owners of The Pines mall, although Judy Vu has always presented herself as an owner, as well.

At that time, Judy Vu said no one was allowed to have a key to the mall and that she would go to jail instead of surrendering a key. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Wyatt gave Vu a quick deadline for handing a key to the plaintiff’s attorney, but Verona Swanigan, the attorney, said then and again on Sunday that her clients still don’t have access to the mall.

On June 14, Judy Vu alerted members of the media that the mall had been foreclosed on and that she had returned the property to the lender.

About a month later, Swanigan said Vu claimed the mall had been foreclosed on and that the property had been transferred to a lien-holder. Swanigan said then, and repeated it on Sunday, that she did not believe the foreclosure was legitimate.

Swanigan said in August that her clients were also interested in purchasing the mall, but Vu stated again that the mall was in foreclosure. During that time, Vu would not release the name of the lien-holder, but she told The Commercial that “they were out of Dallas and were very busy.”

On Sept. 22, Wyatt filed a stay to find out whether the mall was in foreclosure proceedings.

The order went on to say that because the court is unaware of the foreclosure status and cannot make the determination without actual proof, the matter is stayed, giving Vu 30 days to submit proof of foreclosure documentation.

“Most judges would not put a stay on this case,” said Swanigan. “I don’t see really any justifiable reason why he did do it, but he gave her the opportunity to provide documentation to show she had been foreclosed on, which to the best of my knowledge she has not done.”

On Sept. 24, the defendants filed a motion asking the court to reconsider, saying the stay was not necessary and was not requested by either party.

“The delay of this process is unnecessary and a waste of court resource and prejudicial to the Plaintiffs as they are daily losing income with no way of recoupment or fiscal survival without timely relief,” Swanigan said in the motion.

Swanigan said that she never received a response from the judge, that no future hearing had been scheduled and that the status of the movie theater is in limbo until the legal questions are resolved.

Before abruptly ending a phone conversation, Vu said last week she did not own the mall. “The mall has been shut down, and I don’t own it anymore,” said Vu. “Cameron Co. owns it now in Texas.”

When asked when that company took possession, Vu said she didn’t know and that she couldn’t answer any more questions.

According to Cameron Appraisal Group’s website, it is a regional property tax consulting firm, serving clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex since 1996 and specializing in real estate protests for residential and commercial property owners. Swanigan said she has reached out to the company about the foreclosure and was told the company is not licensed to practice in Arkansas.

According to the company’s website, it serves Denton, Collin, Tarrant, and Dallas counties in Texas, with no mention of Arkansas.

The Better Business Bureau shows that the company has been in business for 24 years with a location in Highland Village, Texas. Further investigation shows that Cameron Appraisal Group is owned by Thuyjen Vu, 58, Theresa Vu, 35 and John Vu, 39. According to public documents, Theresa Vu is a real estate sales agent who is employed by Cameron Highland Realty.

Asked to comment on that information, Swanigan said Sunday that Theresa Vu is Judy Vu’s daughter, and that the other two people are the same ones who were listed in the original documents as owning the mall.

“It is just a fake company,” Swanigan said, requesting that the information be sent to her.

“She hasn’t presented no loan documents, no foreclosure documents, nothing,” said Swanigan. “When you call the company, they tell you that they are not in the loan business. The thing is, the same owners of the mall are the same owners of the company.”