The chair of the state agency directed to work with home owners facing default is himself in default to the tune of millions of dollars, reports the Detroit News.

Bernard Glieberman, chairman of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, has defaulted on millions of dollars in loans for his company Crosswinds Communities Inc., where he is the chief executive officer. MSHDA was authorized by a new law to work with home owners and mortgage companies to work out ways to save homes from foreclosure in legislation passed earlier this year.

Glieberman tells the News he will make things right on the defaults, noting that he has been unable to finish several developments because of the down turn in the economy and the housing market.

The information comes to light because residents of his Monroe Mason Run housing project were hit with thousands of dollars in special assessments by the city to complete streets that Glieberman, 70, was supposed to complete as part of the project.

The News reports Mason Run is not the only project that is in trouble:

Among recent court actions involving Glieberman:

• Residential Funding Co. LLC sued Glieberman in federal court in Detroit in 2008, alleging it guaranteed loans totaling $49 million to finance six Glieberman housing projects around the country, but “the projects were never completed, and the project loans went into default.” The case was later dismissed, without a reason stated in the court records. Glieberman said most of the affected properties were returned to lenders to satisfy debts, though he is still proceeding with at least one of the six projects.
• Flathead-Michigan LLC sued Glieberman and some of his companies in federal court in Detroit in July, alleging default on a $5 million loan from Fifth Third Bank. The case is pending.
• In Florida, Huntington Bank won an $11 million foreclosure judgment against Glieberman’s Crosswinds at Pompano Beach in January over a mortgage that went into default after a planned residential project was halted.
• PCR Land Co. LLC sued Glieberman in federal court in Texas last year, alleging default on corporate loans totaling $66.6 million. The case was dismissed early this year, pursuant to a settlement agreement. The Glieberman company involved, Crosswinds at Lone Star Ranch 1000, Ltd., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008, and the lawsuit was later dismissed pursuant to a settlement agreement that allowed PCR to foreclose on the property.

As chair of MSHDA, he assists the board in developing policies for the agency which in turn helps to maintain safe, low-cost housing options in the state. He was appointed to the board by Jennifer Granholm in 2003, and took the chairmanship this year.