Real estate | Horry County tax sale on Monday

Nearly 3,000 properties will be up for sale starting Monday at the annual Horry County delinquent tax sale.

Horry County properties with unpaid taxes will be up for sale in conference room B at the Horry County Government and Judicial Center at 1301 Second Ave. in Conway. The sale will start at 10 a.m. and go until 4 p.m. for as many days as it takes to sell all of the properties.

There are about as many properties for sale this year as were up for sale last year, when the number of properties jumped dramatically, said Judi Brooks, an administrative assistant in the Horry County treasurer’s office.

A list of all properties with unpaid taxes is available at www.TheSunNews.com.

If the property is sold at the tax sale, the property owner has a year from the day of the sale to pay the taxes, plus interest and get the property back. Interest starts at 3 percent for the first three months and goes up an additional 3 percent every three months during the year. Winning bidders take ownership of the property a year after the sale if the property owner doesn’t pay the taxes and reclaim the property.

Bidders are required to register and can either mail or fax a registration form, which is on the Horry County website, or register on the day of the sale.

Winning bidders must pay by 5 p.m. on the day of the sale with cash or certified funds.

Land clearing

The land being cleared on the northeast corner of the intersection of U.S. 17 Bypass and S.C. 544 is not laying the groundwork for a new project.

The land, owned by The Jackson Cos., is being timbered, according to the company.

Burroughs & Chapin affiliate files for bankruptcy

Wendell Falls Development LLC, a Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. affiliate, filed for bankruptcy this week, closing the books on the Myrtle Beach-based company’s efforts to develop a residential community in North Carolina.

Wendell Falls Development has no assets and owes just more than $9.45 million, according to the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. The corporation owes money to about 40 companies, including more than $7.5 million to two contracting companies.

Burroughs & Chapin defaulted on a $20 million bank loan on the property in 2009 due to a lack of home sales and cash flow, according to reports in The Sun News at the time. The plan was to build a 4,000-home community 10 miles east of Raleigh in Wendell, N.C., but the project never got off the ground because of the recession and housing market collapse, according to those reports.

Burroughs & Chapin declined to comment, saying that it does not comment on pending legal matters, spokeswoman Lei Gainer said.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge J. Rich Leonard, of the Eastern District of North Carolina U.S. Bankruptcy Court, issued an order this week appointing Joseph Callaway of Battle, Winslow, Scott & Wiley, PA as the interim trustee in the bankruptcy.