Upsate landlord owes $93M to creditors

A major landlord in upstate New York has a lot of people questioning his business practices — thousands of them in fact.

Madison County’s M. Burton Marshall owes $92.7 million to his creditors, Syracuse.com reported. The revelation came in bankruptcy filings, which also detailed that $90.5 million of that is unsecured debt owed to nearly 1,000 people who loaned Marshall money in exchange for an 8-percent annual return.

Investors told the publication that Marshall claimed he would use the money he borrowed to invest in the community, including his rental property purchases. In exchange, Marshall gave promissory notes, claiming investors could get principals’ back with 30 days’ notice. The lenders received no security in any of the properties.

In addition to being a landlord, Marshall is also a tax preparer and insurance salesman. The 71-year-old filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week.

Marshall’s assets total $21.9 million. Most of that value is derived from real estate; Marshall owns rental properties in the Hamilton area, close to Colgate University.

With a lot of creditors comes a large range of alleged debt. Some are owed just a few hundred dollars, according to the filings. One, however, is owed more than $2 million. Some of the creditors live on the other side of the country.

Last month, New York State Attorney General Lettia James launched a probe into Marshall’s activities and some alleged irregularities in his dealings. The investigation was launched after multiple complaints, starting with an inquiry to the local police department in early March.

A message on Marshall’s tax business website noted “ongoing health issues” in February that was set to sideline him for the busy tax season. Prior to that, at least one lender said Marshall was up to date on his payments to them.

As the missed payments allegedly piled up, so did the lawsuits. Dozens have been filed against Marshall in recent weeks.

— Holden Walter-Warner