Country Inn to be sold on courthouse steps

The Country Inn will be sold at public auction in a foreclosure sale on Tuesday, July 17, at 2 p.m. on the front steps of the Morgan County Courthouse.

In a June 12 letter, Attorney Michael L. Scales of Martinsburg announced that he is the appointed substitute trustee for CNB Bank, Inc. which is exercising its right to foreclose on the Berkeley Springs hotel.

The letter was sent to lien holders, including the Bath Town Council, the State Tax Department, federal tax officials and those owed money due to court judgments against the Inn and its owners.

The Inn’s financial woes have been mounting over the past several years. Recorded liens and judgments against the Inn totaled more than $4.4 million in early April.

The largest debts involve a $2.5 million deed of trust from October 2006, the subject of the foreclosure by CNB, plus two liens totaling $500,000 for deeds of trust for property on Fairfax Street also owned by inn owners Nancy and Stjepan Sostaric.

Among the other assorted liens are more than $360,000 for federal taxes, more than $260,000 for state taxes and more than $150,000 in court judgments against the Sostarics and 5042 Holdings Limited.

Some of the court orders hold the Sostarics personally responsible for the judgments, not simply The Country Inn.