By TABITHA EVANS MOORE | Editor-in-Chief
On Monday, November 24, Fawn and Keith Weaver, along with their holding company Grant Sidney, Inc., filed an emergency motion asking a federal judge to temporarily lift the litigation freeze placed on Uncle Nearest, Inc. and its related entities after the court entered a receivership earlier this year.
The Weavers argue that the current stay – implemented when the Court appointed a receiver on August 22 – has prevented them and the Uncle Nearest companies from answering Farm Credit Mid-America’s lawsuit or asserting any defenses and counterclaims. They say the receivership was imposed before they had time to secure specialized counsel, gather evidence, or respond to Farm Credit’s complaint.
In their filing, the Weavers claim that the receivership has now moved far beyond stabilizing operations and is actively accelerating toward a potential sale of company assets. According to the motion, the receiver has hired an investment banker and opened a data room that could give competitors access to confidential pricing, distribution, production, and trade-secret information – creating what they call an “irreversible” competitive harm.
The motion highlights findings from the Receiver’s first quarterly report, which concluded that the company is viable, cooperative, and free of any financial impropriety by current management. The Weavers argue this strengthens the need for the underlying debt dispute with Farm Credit to be fully adjudicated before any asset sale or restructuring decision is made.
They also assert that due process requires they be allowed to respond to Farm Credit’s allegations, especially because their counterclaims could reduce – or potentially exceed – the debt at the center of the case.
The motion asks the Court to lift the stay solely for the purpose of filing answers, defenses, and counterclaims, and to prevent any further irreversible actions in the receivership while the core dispute remains unlitigated. They request emergency consideration.
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