Tea Party candidate’s company seeks bankruptcy protection

By Steve Green

Monday, May 31, 2010 | 5:13 p.m.

A company controlled by Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Jon Scott Ashjian filed for bankruptcy protection Monday in a bid to block foreclosure of a parcel of raw land in Las Vegas.

While Nevada's Bankruptcy Court offices were closed for the holiday, Ashjian Development LLC nevertheless filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition electronically.

Ashjian, who filed as a Tea Party of Nevada candidate in a bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

But his attorney for the bankruptcy filing, Barry Levinson, said the filing was made to block foreclosure of land Ashjian and other investors had intended to develop into a mini-storage facility.

The bankruptcy filing listed the company's assets as being worth less than $50,000. The filing showed Nevada National Bank has asserted a claim of $750,000 for the parcel at 4641 N. Rainbow Blvd.

Clark County Recorder records show the bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against the land in February after Ashjian Development defaulted on a loan for the property.

Levinson said because the value of the land had declined during the recession, the partners couldn't complete financing for the storage center development and with the bankruptcy filing they hope to work out a solution with the bank.

This isn't the first time Ashjian has faced financial difficulty.

The Las Vegas Sun reported in March that he owed the IRS $200,000 and that the agency had placed a tax lien against his home and that another company he owned, A&A Asphalt Paving Co. faced a complaint for passing a bad check to a vendor last October for $981.