The local promoter at the center of the University of Hawaii’s botched Stevie Wonder concert is facing the possible loss of his Kailua home after allegedly defaulting on a $654,500 mortgage loan. The financial woes of promoter Robert V. Peyton appear to date back to another failed concert at the UH Stan Sheriff Center in 2005.
A foreclosure lawsuit against Peyton and his wife, Marie T. Peyton, was filed on November 21, 2011 by Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, the current holder of the mortgage. The loan was originally made in 2005 by Option One Mortgage Corporation, now known as Sand Canyon Corporation.
The Peyton’s modest 1,242 square foot home on Mokapu Blvd. was originally purchased in July 1994, real estate records show. It is currently assessed for tax purposes at $642,100.
An earlier nonjudicial foreclosure threat was blocked by a lawsuit filed by Honolulu attorney Gary Dubin in October 2009 against Option One seeking cancellation of the original mortgage for alleged technical violations of the federal Truth in Lending Act.
Peyton’s lawsuit, originally filed in state court but later transferred to U.S. District Court in Honolulu, was eventually dismissed, but not before it succeeded in stalling the bank’s attempt to foreclose. Option One no longer holds the mortgage, which had already been transferred to Deutsche Bank, court records show.
Peyton is the sole officer of BPE Productions Inc., the company that was promoting the Wonder concert for the UH Athletic Department, according to published accounts. His wife, Marie, is listed as a director of the company, according to state business records. BPE and two other Peyton businesses list the Mokapu Blvd. home on business registration records.
It was reportedly at Peyton’s direction that the university wired $200,000 to a Florida bank account supposedly controlled by Epic Talent LLC. Although described as an escrow account, which should have been under the control of an independent third party, it now appears the money may have been paid into a regular account and quickly transferred elsewhere.
Peyton’s money woes appear to date back to 2005, when BPE Productions was promoting a pair of Mariah Carey concerts that were also to be held at Stan Sheriff Center in December of the same year. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on November 14, 2005 that both concerts had been cancelled, citing a press release by Peyton.
In October 2005, Peyton obtained the $654,500 mortgage loan largely to consolidate existing debts, according to loan documents filed in the federal court proceedings.
Proceeds of the loan were used to pay off a series of Peyton’s debts, including $10,290.54 owed to American Express, $12.566.94 due on a Chase Bank charge card, and two Bank of Hawaii loans with balances of $243,531.47 and $250,980.27, as well as settlement costs and mortgage broker fees.
Peyton received the balance of $117,960.49 when the loan closed in October 2005..
A month later, the planned Mariah Carey concerts fell apart.
Peyton cancelled another show featuring a group from Las Vegas planned for November 2008, this time a fundraising event for HUGS, a local nonprofit. Within months, Peyton and his wife were facing threats of foreclosure after falling behind on mortgage payments, court records show.