LA FERIA — Frank Rios was closing up the books for the city of La Feria when he came across two loans owed to the city, and they were already past due.
He reported to the city manager that the South Texas Collaborative for Housing Development nonprofit owed more than $100,000.
And at a recent city meeting, the commission approved authorization for city staff to demand overdue loan payments from the STCHD.
“It was a loan through the La Feria EDC,” said Jaime Sandoval, La Feria city manager. “We didn’t find out about the notes until it came out in the (recent) audit.”
Sandoval said South Texas Collaborative owes the city money and the city is prepared to get that money back.
STCHD Executive Director Sunny Philip, who is the former city manager, was not available for comment.
One of the notes is for $69,500 and the other for $45,000.
Both of the notes had a maturity date of May 1, 2017, according to city officials.
“I found these when trying to close out our books for this audit year,” Rios said.
Rios said he made contact with the local nonprofit in pursuit of the money through email communications.
Rio recommended to the commission to work with the legal department to draft an official letter to request payment.
The notes were originally loaned on May 1, 2014.
According to the promissory notes, Rios said the principal could have been paid on or before May 1, 2017.
For the last five months, the notes have been incurring a 10 percent interest fee per month, according to city officials.
According to the South Texas Collaborative website, South Texas Collaborative for Housing Development, Inc. is a nonprofit founded in 2009 to provide decent and affordable housing to low and moderate-income families.
According to an IRS income tax 2014 report, the STCHD principal officer is Philip.
