File Photo Then-governor Jim Justice speaks to the press at his Greenbrier Resort in 2024 following his victory for U.S. Senate.

CHARLESTON – Attorneys for a Texas-based hotel company filed new documents in federal court over the weekend amending their requests for a judge to place U.S. Sen. Jim Justice’s Greenbrier Resort into receivership and block any interference by the Justice family in the historic hotel’s operations.

Attorneys for White Sulphur Springs Holdings LLC (WSSH), the company owned by Omni Hotels and Resorts parent company TRT Holdings, filed amended motions Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

WSSH, which purchased the remaining loan debt by the Justice family previously owed to Virginia-based Carter Bank and Trust, is petitioning Chief U.S. District Judge Frank W. Volk to appoint a receiver to oversee the Greenbrier Resort and its affiliated entities.

Attorneys for WSSH allege that the Justice family has defaulted on more than $141 million in remaining debt while allowing the historic property to fall into physical and financial ruin. WSSH claims the owners have misappropriated revenue, failed to pay taxes and neglected employee benefits, thereby threatening the value of the collateral and the local economy.

“WSSH filed this action in an effort to protect the ongoing operations of the Greenbrier Resort,” wrote Seth P. Hayes, one of several attorneys with the Jackson Kelly law firm representing WSSH. “WSSH’s primary goal is to ensure the Greenbrier Resort can retain its outstanding and dedicated staff, honor existing commitments to its guests and contractual counterparties and preserve its status as the premier resort destination in West Virginia. Appointing a receiver to manage defendants’ collateral assets is the best way to achieve that goal.”

The filing argues that an emergency receivership is necessary to prevent further waste and protect the resort’s ongoing operations. WSSH also asserts that because the defendants are in a precarious financial position and have waived various legal defenses, the court has the authority under both federal and state law to grant this relief. Ultimately, the document seeks to shift control of the resort’s management to a third party to ensure debts are satisfied and the property is preserved.

“Not only have defendants failed to pay their debts, but their misappropriation of funds has caused the Greenbrier Resort’s property to deteriorate – residents of the local community complain about defendants’ failure to pay their local contractors, employees, and vendors, unkempt grounds, and peeling paint,” Hayes wrote.

“In addition, defendants have at times failed to pay various taxes, endangering the Greenbrier Resort’s operations, licenses, and raising the risk that taxing authorities will place further liens on the properties,” Hayes continued. “The appointment of a receiver is therefore a critical remedy, not only to protect the value of the collateral securing defendants’ debts to WSSH, but to keep the Greenbrier Resort running smoothly for the benefit of its numerous employees, guests, and the larger surrounding community.”

TRT Holdings created WSSH after purchasing the Greenbrier loan debt previously held by Carter Bank in a sale earlier in April. Not long after purchasing the debt, WSSH filed a lawsuit against Jim Justice, former first lady Cathy Justice, their son Jay Justice, the Greenbrier Hotel Corp. and other Justice-owned companies affiliated with the Greenbrier.

TRT Holdings, through Omni Hotels, operates more than 50 hotels and luxury properties, including the historic Omni Homestead Resort and Spa in Hot Springs, Va., 40 miles away from the Greenbrier.

Justice bought the Greenbrier in 2009 from rail company CSX. Since Justice first took office as governor of West Virginia in 2017, Jill Justice, the governor’s daughter, runs the Greenbrier while Justice’s son, Jay, manages other businesses in Justice’s portfolio though Justice is still listed as CEO of the Greenbrier and holds majority control of his business empire. According to financial disclosure reports, former first lady Cathy Justice is operations adviser at the resort. Justice was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024.

The history between the Justices and Carter Bank, the previous Greenbrier loan holder, goes back to 2001 when Carter Bank became the primary lender to his companies due to a personal relationship between Gov. Justice and Worth Carter, the founder of the bank. But after Worth Carter died in April 2017, Carter Bank started seeking payment toward the loan guarantees.

Beginning April 2023, attorneys for Carter Bank filed 21 confessed judgments against then-governor Justice, Cathy Justice, Jay Justice, and multiple Justice-owned companies, seeking more than $301 million plus interest and attorney fees, filing 11 individual cases, called confessions of judgment, against Jim and Cathy Justice in an attempt to collect on those loan guarantees. Those cases were settled in June 2024.

Justice’s companies dropped a previous federal lawsuit against Carter Bank in 2021, with Carter Bank dropping a circuit court lawsuit against Justice’s companies over $368 million in loans that were also personally guaranteed by Justice. According to Friday’s court filing by WSSH, there have been 14 amended and restated forbearance agreements between the Justice family and Carter Bank prior to the purchase last month of the remaining debt by TRT Holdings.

“Despite the confessed judgments, which have been confirmed, and Carter Bank’s 14 written agreements to collect amounts owed from the Defendants, they have failed and refused and continue to fail and refuse to satisfy their obligations. First to Carter Bank, and now to WSSH.” Hayes wrote.

WSSH also cited numerous financial issues over the years with Justice and the Greenbrier, including overdue state and federal taxes, the suspension of mammography services at the Greenbrier Clinic after it didn’t meet FDA standards, delays in paying health insurance premiums and employer matches for employee retirement plans, facilities being underinsured and failure to pay vendors and local contractors.

Attorneys for WSSH also filed an amended motion requesting a preliminary injunction against the Justice family. The motion seeks to freeze the diversion of funds from the Greenbrier to other Justice-owned companies and compel the defendants to comply with financial reporting requirements to protect the value of the collateral.

“WSSH’s concerns about the Defendants’ financial state and regular mismanagement are especially relevant because WSSH has reason to believe the Justice Defendants have been and continue to divert significant sums of money from the operation of the Greenbrier Resort … to support other unrelated business interests to the detriment of WSSH’s collateral,” Hayes wrote.

In an April 27 order, Volk set a pre-hearing conference between attorneys for WSSH and the Justice family for 11 a.m. June 1.

Attorneys for the Justice family filed their own case in Greenbrier County Circuit Court last month alleging that TRT Holdings and Carter Bank engaged in a deceptive conspiracy to orchestrate a hostile takeover of the Greenbrier by unlawfully selling and acquiring the hotel’s debt. TRT Holdings has denied these claims.