The Wedding Nightmare Continues

Jakobstettel Inn can operate despite power-of-sale process.

The Jakobstettel Inn property in St. Jacobs is in the midst of a power-of-sale process because of defaults on mortgage payments, according to court documents.

The inn, located in an old mansion on Isabella Street in St. Jacobs, had been booked by couples who put down deposits for upcoming weddings. Those couples have been scrambling to make other arrangements since the inn suddenly closed down.

In a statement of claim served to Jakobstettel Properties Inc. on Jan. 22, the mortgage holder, Brunen Holdings Inc. of Kitchener, claimed it is owed almost $350,000 in principal and interest on a mortgage of $655,461 that was registered last June in the Waterloo Region land registry office.

Last month, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted Brunen Holdings the authority to issue a writ for possession of the property when it is sold, so that it can be turned over to a new owner.

Bruce Lackenbauer, a Brunen Holdings representative, said the court order basically allows the power-of-sale process to proceed. That process is now underway, but the writ of possession has not been taken out yet, he said.

"We don't want to get into possession until we have to, and the power-of-sale process requires appraisals and that sort of thing, so we are just in the process of that now," he said.

Lackenbauer said the power-of-sale process does not prevent the inn from operating. "We are not in any way preventing it from being open. That is up to the business, which is Jakobstettel Properties Inc.," he said.

The president of Jakobstettel Properties Inc., Daniel P. Reeve, has not returned calls since last week. His lawyer also has not returned calls.

Reeve said in an interview with the Record on April 8 that he was training staff and would reopen the inn on April 21, but couples who have weddings booked at the inn are still in a state of confusion about whether the property will be available to them. As of April 14, there was still no answering machine or voice mail system to pick up calls to the inn.