The board chairman of struggling Realty Finance Corp. has resigned, becoming the second high profile departure from the company in the last month.
Ray Wirta announced his resignation as chairman of the board of directors effective Aug. 28 and has been replaced by Douglas Eby, who has been a member of the board since 2005.
In August, Realty Finance fired its CEO and president Kenneth Witkin because a “full-time CEO was no longer required,” the company said in an Aug. 3 statement.
Vincent Costantini, a current member of the board of directors, was appointed interim CEO and president of the Company for no additional salary.
Realty Finance Corp., a Hartford-based real estate company headquartered in downtown’s CityPlace I, reported a first quarter net loss of $44.1 million, compared to a net income of $16.5 million in the year-ago period, a decline of more than $60 million.
Officials from the company have said it was facing major liquidity pressures due to a soured loan portfolio and bad investments.
On July 30, the company entered into an agreement to retire $50 million of trust preferred securities for $9 million in cash and a $1.5 million promissory note. As a result, the Realty said it will record a realized gain in the third quarter of about $40.5 million.
Additionally, a class action lawsuit the company was facing in U.S. District Court in Connecticut has been dismissed, the company said.
