Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop Inc., of Spokane, faces foreclosure by a Texas company after defaulting on a loan that originally was guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.


According to a foreclosure action filed in Spokane County Superior Court on Sept. 18, Sharp Shooting Indoor Range owed LPP Mortgage Ltd., the Texas company, $381,350 in unpaid principal and interest as of late August.


Sharp Shooting CEO Robin Ball, however, says that the company is negotiating for new financing to pay off the debt to LPP Mortgage, and we have every reason to believe it will be a successful package.


Sharp Shooting operates a firing range and retail store at 1200 N. Freya, in East Spokane, which opened in 1995. The company employs eight people, Ball says.


In 1996, Sharp Shooting borrowed $305,000 from the Northwest Business Development Association, a Spokane nonprofit organization that arranges loans on behalf of the Small Business Administration (SBA), the court filing says. The loan was secured by a deed of trust on Sharp Shootings property, and was personally guaranteed by Robin Ball and her husband, Steve Ball, the filing says.


LPP Mortgage acquired that loan from the SBA as a successor in interest, the filing says. The companys Seattle-based attorney would not say when it acquired that interest.


Mike Estess, business development officer at Northwest Business Development, says the loan was sold at a discount on the secondary market after it was deemed uncollectible at least five years ago.


Last June, LPP Mortgage notified Sharp Shooting that it was in default and called in the full amount of the note, as it was entitled to do under the loan agreement, the filing says.


Unpaid interest has continued to accrue since that time, it says.


The Texas company is asking the court to appoint a receiver to take possession of the property in preparation for its sale, the filing says.