Loan Amount Similar To Value Of Scott and Kristen Zankl’s Seven Bridges Home. Carries 24 Percent Interest Rate.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2022 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A new lawsuit filed against Excell Auto and its owners Kristen and Scott Zankl alleges that the couple took a loan valued at $1,329,600.00 from “Savannah Row Development” and stopped paying. The loan, initiated on June 15, 2017, carried an interest rate of 24-percent and required a payment of $27,500 per month. The Zankls, according to the suit, defaulted in March of this year. Savannah Row Development, according to public records, is a real estate development firm with one member — Steven Gelb of Boca Raton.
The loan amount is notable. The Zankls’ Seven Bridges home, used as collateral in another loan, was purchased for $1,345,198 according to Palm Beach County records — roughly the same amount as the Savannah Row Development loan. The Zankls borrowed $750,000 from Seaside National Bank to purchase the home in 2015. There is no indication, according to public records, that the mortgage was satisfied. Even so, as we reported earlier this month, The Zankls allegedly guaranteed another loan with the value of their Seven Bridges home. They defaulted on that loan by allegedly writing bad checks. One of the checks appears below. A foreclosure procedure is underway.
As BocaNewsNow.com reported exclusively on April 8th — in a story copied by television stations and local newspapers — the Excell Automotive Showroom at 1001 Clint Moore Road in Boca Raton was suddenly vacant after years of displaying exotic and high-end cars. Owner Scott Zankl told BocaNewsNow.com exclusively that he was engaged in a civil dispute with his “landlord” who took the vehicles. He said the problem would be resolved in days.
But the so-called landlord, one of Excell’s financiers, said Scott Zankl and Kristen Zankl were engaged in a massive fraud known as “out of trust.” That’s when a car dealer finances the cars on a lot, sells the cars, but doesn’t repay the loan. Excell Auto, Scott Zankl and Kristen Zankl are now named in suits valued in the millions of dollars. As we reported exclusively on April 12th, Excell filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Protection, claiming between $0 and $50,000 in assets while owning between $10M and $50M.
Meantime, BocaNewsNow.com has learned that criminal investigations continue, with people in the midst of deals with Excell Auto Group being contacted by area police. Multiple customers allegedly either provided cars to Excell but never received funds — often valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — or provided money to Excell but never received a car. No criminal charges, however, have been filed.
Read the latest lawsuit, here.
