Andy Tullis / The Bulletin file photoMavericks at Sunriver, which houses Oregon's only listed FlowRider wave machine, seen here in 2013, has closed in the wake of a foreclosure lawsuit filed by Bank of the Cascades.

The wave no longer breaks at Mavericks at Sunriver, but the legal waters around it still ripple.

Deschutes County Circuit Judge Beth Bagley last month ordered the water attraction and recreational facility in Sunriver sold by the Deschutes County Sheriff to satisfy a $5.5 million default judgment against Sunriver Vacations Recreation Association. The association members, who Bank of the Cascades says guaranteed those loans, are headed back to court to determine who will pay the balance owed. A sheriff’s sale normally takes place within three months to a year of the court order. Deschutes County assessed the real market value of Mavericks land and structures at $3.4 million last fiscal year.

The association on Oct. 31 closed Mavericks at Sunriver, where vacationers lifted weights, tossed free-throws on a basketball half-court and swam in its pool, according to court records. The facility also features a surfing wave machine, a FlowRider 1800, installed in 2007, that provided a venue for professional surfers and bodyboarders to compete for cash prizes.

An attorney for the Bank of the Cascades, which, according to its lawsuit, has loaned the association $5.5 million to build and run the facility since 2003, filed a motion Monday asking the judge to rule in the bank’s favor and forgo a civil trial.

The bank filed the lawsuit in August, seeking to appoint a receiver to run the business and to foreclose on its loans after failed talks with the owners in May to sell the facility, according to court records. The suit names as defendants the Sunriver Vacations Recreation Association, its member businesses and their principals: Larry Browning of Resort Realty Inc., Richard Hadley of Mountain Resort Properties Inc., Mark Halvorsen of Village Properties LLC and Edward Willard of Sunray Vacation Rentals Inc., also known as Cascara Vacation Rentals. A Deschutes County judge in October removed Willard, who filed for bankruptcy in federal court, from the Mavericks suit.

Bruce Cahn, a Portland lawyer with Ball Janik who represents the bank, summed up his case Tuesday: “The borrower borrowed $5 million and didn’t pay it back,” he said. “The guarantors promised to pay it back and didn’t pay it back.”

After closing Mavericks, the association on Nov. 5 agreed to maintain the 32,000-square-foot building at 18135 Cottonwood Road and the property inside and arranged for a security service to keep watch on the building, according to court records. Two weeks later, the bank dropped its request for the court to appoint an independent receiver to oversee the operation of Mavericks at Sunriver.

With no revenue forthcoming to pay down the Mavericks debt, the bank saw no reason for a receiver, Cahn said. “When they voluntarily closed the facility and put in a security and maintenance program, there was nothing for a receiver to do,” he said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com