A foreclosure complaint filed against the sprawling Trage Bros. storefront at 7440 Madison is the latest chapter in the demise of a once prominent and long-time family business. According to county records, Private Bank and Trust agreed to loan up to $430,000 to the family in October 2008 through a limited liability company. On Oct. 2, the bank filed paperwork with Cook County Circuit Court to recover the $407,000 that remains unpaid, though the note on the mortgage doesn’t mature until 2013.
That loan was guaranteed by Shining Star Enterprises, an LLC established by the family about 10 years ago. Shining Star Enterprises is also a guarantor of two agreements entered into with TCF Inventory Financing. In September, TCF won a court order to seize truckloads of appliances from Trage Bros. in an effort to recoup more than $214,600 loaned to the family business to purchase inventory.
In June, Shining Star Enterprises signed for another mortgage with Private Bank and Trust, this one for as much as $1.1 million, according to county records. That variable rate mortgage comes due in 2010, and is included in the bank’s foreclosure complaint.
