An amended petition was filed in Jackson County District Court Tuesday adding 14 new defendants to a suit filed in January by First National Bank of Altus foreclosing on Quartz Mountain Aerospace. The suit was filed in connection with two loans in 2005 and 2006 in excess of $450,000.

Along with Quartz Mountain Aerospace, the suit filed on Jan. 13 also names First State Bank of Altus, The Oklahoma Industrial Finance Authority, the Altus Municipal Authority and the Universal Funding Corporation as defendants.

If the amendment is okayed by a district judge, the list of defendants will also include Liberty Bank and Trust, Liberty Bank and Trust Company of Oklahoma City, Advance Technology Services Intl., Bank of Oklahoma, Bank of Oklahoma NA as Trustee, Altus Venture Capital Fund IV LLC, Bank One Trust Company, US Bancorp, CIT Technology Financing Services I LLC, FSB Development Cap LLC, FSB Development Capital LLC, Whelen Engineering Company Inc., Altus/Southwest Area Economic Development Corporation, and the Internal Revenue Service.

First National is wanting Quartz Mountain Aerospace to sell the equipment it listed as collateral and is requesting QMA’s loans be paid off prior to payment on other loans, such as those made last year by the Altus Municipal Authority for $200,000 and the Altus/Southwest Area Economic Development Corporation for $220,000.

At Tuesday meeting of the Altus City Council, the Municipal Trust opted to move forward with its plans to file legal action against Quartz Mountain Aerospace, Inc. and hire Charles E. Geister, III of the law firm Hartzog Conger & Neville to assist Authority Counsel.

City attorney Catherine Coke said the court is working to get each organization’s claims listed in the suit and she is expecting pleadings to be filed within the month, but at this point doesn’t know in what form.

The City has until June 21 to respond to another lawsuit filed by the Oklahoma Industrial Finance Authority in April in which OIFA is seeking foreclosure on the lease of the company’s Altus facilities that was used as collateral for a $2 million loan in 1998. They say that QMA owes them more than $1 million on that loan as well as 14 percent interest that started April 1.

Altus Municipal Authority owns the building that was constructed with funds approved in a 1997 sales tax election. Named as co-defendants are the Jackson County Board of Commissioners and the Jackson County Treasurer.