West Plains auto dealer Bonanza Ford has closed its doors, and its inventory has been repossessed.

The dealership, located at the Four Lakes-Cheney interchange with Interstate 90, is owned by Bonanza Ford Inc., which moved the operation there in 2001 from Cheney. Mark Loy, who owns Bonanza Ford with his sister, Deborah, says the dealership employed about 30 people.

On Jan. 2, a company named Bonanza Land LLC, which owns the property the dealership has occupied, filed suit in Spokane County Superior Court against Bonanza Ford seeking back lease payments and alleging breach of contract. To help satisfy the lease debt, Bonanza Land also is seeking to recover vehicles it says were seized from the dealership property on Dec. 23 by Bank of America N.A.

Loy says he isn't sure yet how Bonanza Ford will respond to the lawsuit, and that he regrets the situation. On Jan. 12, the only vehicle that was visible at the dealership was a cherry-red pickup inside the showroom.

Attorneys for Bonanza Land LLC couldn't be reached for comment. Its lawsuit asserts that Bonanza Ford has failed to pay rent for the dealership since November. Bonanza Ford is under a 20-year lease for the property, the suit charges. The suit says that as of Jan. 2, Bonanza Land claims a landlord's lien of about $74,400—and asserts that lien is superior to Bank of America's right, title, or interest in the dealership's "personal property," or vehicles.

It also says that Bonanza Ford owed it about $106,500 for rent, late fees, property taxes, and interest.

The dealership property includes a 19,600-square-foot structure on five acres located at 10010 S. state Route 904, just south of I-90.

The Loys bought the dealership, previously located in Cheney and called Jerry Reynolds Ford, in 1996, through a company called Ponderosa Enterprises Inc. and renamed it Bonanza Ford Inc. Ford Motor Co. approved the sale with the condition that the Loys move the dealership to a prominent location, on or near I-90. They did that in 2001, moving into the $4 million dealership facility at the Four Lakes-Cheney interchange.

The Loys have owned a number of car dealerships in the region, through a company called Ponderosa Enterprises Inc., including Ponderosa Imports, in Spokane; Ponderosa Motors, in Coeur d'Alene; and dealerships in Moses Lake, Wash., and Kalispell, Mont. Midway Automotive Group Inc., of Post Falls, acquired Ponderosa Motors' Chrysler and Jeep lines in 2003.

Bonanza Ford is the second Ford dealership to close in a little over a year. Empire Ford, located in downtown Spokane, closed its doors in November 2007.