CenterBank, Milford, OH (privately held)

A Case of Greenlee, OH vs Lindenbaum, NY


Management at CenterBank is just plain stinky and deserves to be called out for their crummy behavior — pretending to be good "small town America" guys getting screwed by bad "NY City Wall Street guys," when they're really just sore losers playing the victim. The way they are shirking their obligations to the taxpayer-funded Troubled Asset Relief Program (aka TARP) undermines the moral fabric of our financial system and dishonors every hard-working American taxpayer. Shame on them!

Disclosure: As of this posting, I do not own shares of CenterBank and wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole.
    Financial Snapshot
    (as of 12/31/2012)

    Total assets:
    $113M
    Tangible book value per share:
    N/A
    NPAs to assets:
    2.9%
    Price to book:
    N/A
    Market cap:
    N/A
    Dividend yield:
    N/A
    Trailing 12-month return on assets:
    0.9%
    Trailing 12-month return on equity:
    9.4%
    TARP:
    $2.3M*
    *Resold in auction October, 2012 to Basswood Capital Management LLC
    Scoundrels
    Daniel Rolfes, Chairman
    Stewart M. Greenlee, President and CEO
    Stephen R. Church, Controller
    Red Flags
    - - - - The Skinny - - - - 
    • After CenterBank lost $700K in 2008, the U.S. Government came to its rescue with $2.3M of TARP funding on April 1, 2009
    • Although its retained earnings were negative, CenterBank paid its TARP dividends to Washington without fuss for 13 consecutive quarters
    • In a January 2012 Cincinatti.com interview, CEO Stewart Greenlee insisted CenterBank would repay TARP before the scheduled 2014 interest rate increase
    • In October 2012, after giving CenterBank ample opportunity to repay it, the U.S. Government auctioned off the bank's TARP, as it is doing across the country to wind down the emergency program
    • CenterBank insiders submitted a bid at the auction, but private investors submitted a higher bid, “winning” the TARP “fair and square” for $.82 on the dollar
    • Given their December 2012 report of positive retained earnings, CenterBank is now in a better position to pay its TARP obligations than ever
    • Instead, CenterBank has reneged on its January 2012 promise, stopped paying TARP dividends, launched a Pity Me Campaign, and started demanding that the new TARP holders hand it over to them at a 10% discount for the crime of being from “New York”

     - - - - CenterBank's Pity Me Campaign - - - -
    • But we wanted to buy ourselves out of it! (sniff sniff)
    • We can't help it we were outbid!
    • We shouldn't have to send our dividends to NY (stomp stomp)
    • Technically, since it’s non-cumulative preferred stock, no one can make us!
    • Let’s make them sorry and pay for outbidding us (ruff ruff)

    - - - - The Facts of the Matter  - - - -

    CenterBank is …
    • Violating an implicit understanding that any reasonable person engaging in business with them would have believed they had every reason to trust
    • Holding hostage honest people doing the government and taxpayers a service — for personal gain
    • Hurting taxpayers everywhere — who paid the money to save their butts and foot their $2.3M TARP rescue package in the first place
    • Hurting the government in remaining TARP auctions because investors will be afraid to buy TARP preferred (we have proof of this already, because the last auctions have brought lower bids)
    • Creating a new problem for taxpayers — who will have to put more money into the government coffers to make up for the $ the government loses
    • Behaving far more like Stalin-era Communists than anything honest American
        Sources

        3 comments :

        1. Center bank sells 21 properties to Warm and Cozy Homes LLC whose principal is Steven M Greenlee march 2014 for $983000 and change

          ReplyDelete
        2. Isn't it odd a small ranch private home, selling for $85,900 in 2004 in Delhi Township was sold from Centerbank to Warm & Cozy Homes in 2014 for $983,167? Nothing around it in this neighborhood would be valued over $150,000

          ReplyDelete