Suit alleges Penn company defaulted on payments

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A foreclosure lawsuit was filed last week in Hilo Circuit Court against a company owned by mixed martial arts fighter BJ Penn and two of his brothers.

A foreclosure lawsuit was filed last week in Hilo Circuit Court against a company owned by mixed martial arts fighter BJ Penn and two of his brothers.

The suit, filed Aug. 31 by a representative of Barbara Osorio’s estate, alleges J.B.R. Enterprises defaulted on payments for six residential parcels near downtown Hilo, which it agreed to buy from Osorio for $2 million in 2002.

The properties are located next to Alenaio Stream and between Kinoole Street and Kilauea Avenue. They are used as rentals.

The company was scheduled to complete the payments Dec. 31, 2013, according to the lawsuit.

A notice of default issued in June 2015 says $517,718 was owed.

Estate representative Claire Yeaton-Risley of Alameda, Calif., is seeking to cancel the sale agreement and start judicial foreclosure proceedings to recover the remaining sum. Osorio died Jan. 19.

Attempts to reach BJ Penn and a brother, Jay Dee Penn, were not successful by press time. They are listed as members along with Reagan Penn on the state’s business registration records.

Their mother, Lorraine Shin, said they were current on their payments and was surprised to hear of the lawsuit.

Shin is in a separate property dispute over the proposed purchase of the shuttered Hilo Lanes through her company, MS Petroleum.

She filed the suit in April alleging owners of that property reneged on a $2.5 million sale agreement.

Shin said she hopes to resolve that by the end of the year.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.