RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- A fourth bank has started foreclosure proceedings against a Rapid City businessman, bringing the total claims against him to nearly $18 million.
In court documents, BankWest said Doug Hamilton and numerous corporations and partnerships he controls defaulted on nearly $8 million in mortgages.
Those latest properties include about 60 acres of Tower Ridge property along U.S. Highway 16. At one time, that land was slated to hold a retail area and a Wal-Mart.
Court documents say Dacotah Bank has a lien against one of the Tower Ridge properties for a 2006 mortgage.
Hamilton took out his first mortgages with BankWest from 2004 to 2007 and all were renegotiated in April.
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Other properties involved in proceedings against him are apartments in Custer, trailer houses in Pennington County, and in Rapid City, mobile home parks and a house.
The banks are suing Hamilton and the corporations and partnerships that control his assets. The Rapid City Journal reported that Hamilton controls at least 40 corporations, which each control one or more partnerships.
Hamilton wouldn't discuss specific foreclosure actions with the newspaper but indicated he would end up with little to his name, though tenants shouldn't worry about being evicted.
As for himself, Hamilton expressed confidence he would make it.
"I'll figure this out," he said.
BankWest, which has 12 South Dakota locations, could not be reached for comment.
Other banks involved in the lawsuits against Hamilton are Great Western Bank, Pioneer Bank & Trust, and State Bank & Trust of Fargo, N.D. Those banks previously refused comment or did not return requests for comment.
Hamilton also owes at least $560,000 in county taxes on the properties now in foreclosure, with some dating back to 2005.
