The Utah Baseball Academy has received numerous inquiries about the pending lawsuit against KeyBank.  In order to answer these questions we are providing the following responses for any of our interested clients:

Q:  What happened?

A:  KeyBank provided a construction loan for the new Baseball Academy building.  The loan officer administering the loan was fired by KeyBank before the loan was fully paid out.  At the time this loan officer was fired, there was a pending request for payment to our contractor.  That pay request was not paid, and as a result the construction contractor filed a lien against the building for non-payment.  Months later, KeyBank determined there was still money in the loan and they should have paid the pay request, however, even after discovering their loan was not fully paid out they continued to refuse to make payment because the lien filed by the unpaid contractor was, according to KeyBank, a “breach” of the loan agreement.  After determining the loan was in “breach” KeyBank refused to fund further, and the Baseball Academy had to finish the construction without any further loan proceeds.  This involved a good deal of cash, but we got the project completed.

KeyBank only gave us a construction loan.  They committed to give us a long term loan as well.  However, when it came time to give us the long term loan, instead KeyBank refused to do so, and left us without any long term loan commitment from any other lender.  KeyBank then filed to foreclose our construction loan and to have the court appoint a receiver to take over our business.

We were able to get a long term loan from Mountain America, and have now paid KeyBank in full.  KeyBank has no lien against our property, and has no claim against the Baseball Academy of any kind.  Their claims, including their attempt to have a receiver appointed for our business, have all been dismissed.

There are remaining claims, however.  These claims are the Baseball Academy’s claims against KeyBank for the way they handled our loan.

Q:  What claims does the Baseball Academy have against KeyBank?

A:  The Baseball Academy is suing KeyBank for the way they handled the loan.  The particulars of our claims are set out in the Counterclaim we filed.  We have made a copy of the Counterclaim available on this site.  This is the actual document we filed with the Court.  It is the best way to answer your question about the claims we make, and we would refer you to that document for all the particulars of our complaints against KeyBank.

Q:  Does the Utah Baseball Academy encourage people to not do business with KeyBank?

A:  We take no position on whether you should or should not do business with KeyBank.  We no longer bank there, however, we do not encourage others to either do or not do business with them.  Our own decision to no longer bank there arose out of our litigation and the awkward position we had in doing business with someone suing us or we were suing.  So, as you can imagine, our decision made sense to us.  However, we do not think we have any reason to ask people to either start doing business with KeyBank or to terminate their business with them.

Q:  What about the rumors that many Baseball Academy families are taking their accounts away from KeyBank?

A:  We have heard the same rumors.  We have heard many of you are angry about this matter.  However, that does not involve us and we have pending litigation in which we intend to address all our complaints about KeyBank’s treatment of our company.

Q:  What is the parents group that has been formed to protest KeyBank’s actions?

A:  A concerned parents group has been formed independent of the Baseball Academy.  It is headed by Pete Relf.  We would refer you to him to get answers about the activities and efforts of this group.  We understand they have independently determined to let KeyBank know they are upset about the way in which KeyBank has dealt with the Academy.

Q:  Has this affected the Baseball Academy’s programs?

A:  No, it has not.  We have obtained long term financing (which KeyBank was supposed to have provided) through Mountain America Credit Union.  They have provided us with a twenty-five year mortgage, which allows the Academy to continue in our current facilities offering our programs as we have been doing in the past.  Although we have to acknowledge we were put through a good deal of trouble by KeyBank, our company is not in any danger of failing as a result.  Bob Keyes was able to come up with the funds to meet all conditions for Mountain America to fund the long term financing.  This involved selling the home Mr. Keyes’ father was living in, and it involved some considerable personal sacrifice and pain.  However, KeyBank will ultimately have to answer for that in the pending lawsuit against them.  As to the on-going Baseball Academy programs, we expect everything to continue and we expect to expand using our facility into new efforts and programs as well.  Right now we hope to fix the cement placed in the infield area and to be able to offer access to a full-sized baseball infield during the next winter months.

Q:  How can we help?

A:  Continue to support our programs by participating.  We enjoy providing services to the community, and look forward to doing so for many years to come.