Oberlin IGA owners in legal trouble, stores in Oberlin, Cincinnati face foreclosure

The Oberlin IGA grocery store is currently facing the possibility of foreclosure after its owners failed to pay an original loan of $2,855,000, according to documents from the Lorain County Clerk of Courts. Owners of the grocery store, including Gurmukh Signh, owe more than $2.9 million — including the principal amount and accrued interest — connected to the original loan issued by ReadyCap Lending LLC in December 2021. The original loan was issued to Seble and Abate Properties Inc. and GG and GA Enterprises Inc. Along with the borrowing companies, Singh, Genet Singh, Lyjaad LLC, Merchants Distributors LLC and the Lorain County treasurer were listed as defendants, according to documents from the Lorain County Clerk of Courts. Gurmukh Singh did not respond to a request for further information Thursday. James Nieberding — listed as the attorney representing the Singhs, who share an address, as well as Seble and Abate Properties, GG and GA Enterprises and Lyjaad — also did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. In court documents, the Singhs, Sebel and Abate Properties and GG and GA Enterprises admitted that they had executed the initial loan in 2021 but denied the allegations of the complaint by ReadyCap Lending. "Defendant Singh, in his corporate capacity, admits that installments are delinquent, and denies the remainder of the allegations of (paragraph) 2 of the Complaint for want of knowledge of information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the matters asserted," Nieberding stated in a document submitted to the Lorain County Clerk of Courts. The initial complaint was filed by ReadyCap Lending on Nov. 4, 2025. The pending foreclosure of the Oberlin grocery store comes at the same time that Gurmukh Singh and company face other legal troubles beyond Lorain County. In Hamilton County — near where Singh's address is listed — a different grocery store, Cincinnati's Clifton Market, is facing foreclosure, according to documents from the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. On Nov. 17 of last year, a complaint was filed by WesBanco Bank Inc. of Cincinnati against Genet Singh, Lyjaad, Multan Properties LLC, and ReadyCap Lending, who were listed as defendants, among others. According to Hamilton County court records, Genet Singh and the other defendants have fallen into default on four mortgages, resulting in a remaining principal cost of at least $350,000 related to three notes. Beyond potential foreclosures of the two grocery store locations, Gurmukh Singh was arrested on Monday for passing bad checks, according to documents from the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. According to the affidavit related to Gurmukh Singh's arrest, he wrote a check in January for the purchase of $1,061.97 worth of wine "Knowing that it would be dishonored." "Victim was notified by his bank that the check was returned for insufcient (sic) funds. Victim made several attempts to have Mr. Singh make this right with no response from Mr. Sing (sic)," the affidavit stated. At that time the Singhs and company began to face the pending foreclosures, questions began to rise in the Oberlin community regarding the future of the grocery store on Lorain Street. Near the end of the year, residents and city officials said the shelves of the Oberlin IGA had become bare. By the end of December, the grocery store remained closed. A note on the door apologized to would-be customers, stating that it would be reopened soon. According to a Dec. 5 inspection Lorain County Public Health report, a health official recorded "the ambient air temperature inside the facility to be 55 (degrees Fahrenheit)" and that they observed "employees wearing scarves and gloves while working." In a December email to city of Oberlin officials — including members of City Council and City Manager Greg Holcomb — Tyrone Wicks, a member of the Board of Health for Lorain County Public Health, expressed his concerns. "The details are tough to hear," Wicks wrote. "We're deeply concerned about the health and safety of the two workers that are working without heat and compensation. I believe you and council need to be aware." In a previous interview, Wicks said he did not have corroborating evidence that employees had worked without pay. However, Wicks said employees had told him so when he was previously inside the store. In a phone interview in December, Gurmukh Singh said the allegation that individuals were working without being compensated was "absolutely not true." "Would you go anywhere to work where you're not getting paid? I mean, employees are getting paid," Singh said. "At the moment, the store is not open. We're trying to regroup and trying to open the store." Singh added that the store has had "supply chain issues, but as far as the employees not getting paid, that's absolutely false." Contact Garrett Looker at glooker@chroniclet.com.