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Banks throughout Greater Des Moines have continued to foreclose on properties connected with three local developers: John C. Kline, Randy Walters and Dave Walters.

There is no evidence, however, of a larger pattern of foreclosure actions against developers, as some had predicted six months ago when banks began foreclosing on properties owned by these three developers.

Since August 2007 in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties, Kline has been named a defendant in 24 foreclosure actions. Randy Walters was also named in 12 of those same suits and in seven others, and Dave Walters has been named in 16 foreclosure cases.

An online search of state district court filings did not reveal any foreclosures against other well-known Greater Des Moines developers or contractors. However, a search of nonjudicial foreclosures recorded in Polk County showed that at least five smaller developers and home builders have returned properties to their lenders during the past year.

Neither Kline, Randy Walters nor Dave Walters have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a clerk at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. At least a few of their properties have gone back to the banks, however, either through the courts or through settlement procedures.

In January, Dave Walters’ Walters Cos. turned over the Fox Prairie Plaza strip center at Mills Civic Parkway and 50th Street in West Des Moines to Valley Bank, to satisfy a $13.27 million debt owed on a $14.5 million loan the company took out in July 2006.

In another nonjudicial foreclosure, recorded on April 8, Walters transferred a purchase agreement on a residence he had sold in Timberline Village in Urbandale in January to American Trust & Savings Bank. The proceeds from that sale were not enough to repay the bank the amount still owed on an original $510,000 loan, according to the agreement.

Walters Investments International Inc., a Dave Walters company, lost a commercial strip center to a sheriff’s sale in Warren County in February. Walters had owed more than $2.19 million on a past-due note to Bank of the West for the Scenic Pointe property in Indianola.

Most of the foreclosure cases involving the developers are still making their way through the courts. However, more cases have been filed recently.

On March 4, Union State Bank filed suit against Brookfield Building LLC regarding a delinquent loan for $1,759,000 that was guaranteed by Kline, Randy Walters, Walters Inc., The Oaks Development Co. and Walters Development Co. Ltd. That case involves 10 residential building lots in Brookfield Estates in Altoona.

In one case, Randy Walters alleged a bank went too far to collect a debt.

In a case in which a settlement was reached in March, First Bank sued The Oaks Development Co. over a delinquent loan with a balance owed of more than $100,000. According to a deposition filed by Walters, First Bank allegedly seized more than $80,000 out of nine separate bank accounts held by Walters and his companies toward repayment of the debt.

Jerry Wanek, an attorney representing Kline and Randy Walters, said he doesn’t expect many more foreclosure cases to be filed against his clients.

“I think all of them that were inclined to be filed have been filed,” he said. “I expect there are other developers who will use the court system for a while.”

Correction: The article in the May 5 Business Record, “Foreclosures continue for three developers,” mistakenly connected the wrong person with a company that was properly identified as returning a property to the bank through a nonjudicial foreclosure action. The story should have said that in January, Dave Walters’ Walters Cos. Inc. turned over the Fox Prairie Plaza strip center to Valley Bank to satisfy a $13.27 million debt owed on a $14.5 million loan. The Business Record regrets the error.