Apr. 16--LAKELAND, Fla.--It may be a million-dollar misunderstanding, but bankruptcy trustee Traci Strickland did not receive a deposit required to validate an agreement for the sale of Grenelefe Golf & Tennis Resort by the 2 p.m. Monday deadline. 

In mid-afternoon, Strickland said she had not received the $1 million transfer promised by Atlanta developer Paul Harris. 

Strickland said a communication miscue might have sent the bank transfer astray. She decided to wait until today before considering other offers. 

"We talked to the buyer's lawyer and are sending a letter tonight with alternative wiring instructions," Strickland's attorney, Roberta Colton, said Monday evening. 

Atlanta developer Paul Harris told The Ledger on Saturday that he had a signed contract to buy the bankrupt resort for $5 million in addition to its debts. Colton said Monday that Harris agreed to pay $18 million. 

That would be approximately $5 million more than the resort's secured debts -- the debts backed by Grenelefe's assets. 

Unsecured claims, which total more than $39 million, are not backed by anything specific. They include hundreds of unpaid bills and salaries owed to employees. 

Colton said Grenelefe employees would be first in line among unsecured creditors and would likely get their money. 

Strickland would not reveal the identities of the prospective buyers who would be next in line, or disclose the amounts offered. She said only that some letters of intent are in the $17 million range. 

Any offer accepted by the trustee is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, and there is a period in which objections can be filed. 

At least one objection is expected. A Winter Haven real estate broker said he represents clients who have been trying to make an offer for the bankrupt resort but did not receive the trustee's cooperation. 

After struggling for the past three years, Grenelefe went bankrupt in mid-February. 

Sports Shinko Group, a Japanese company that bought the resort in the mid-1980s, filed for the Japanese equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 4. 

On Feb. 18, the company's U.S. subsidiaries filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy declaration in Tampa, and Grenelefe was shut down. 

(Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a debtor to submit a reorganization plan for creditors' approval. Under Chapter 7, a debtor's assets are liquidated and the proceeds distributed among the creditors.) Since the bankruptcy, Strickland and Colton have been negotiating with prospective buyers. 

The bankruptcy trustee said the offer from Harris was the only one that did not include contingencies -- such as a period to allow examination of Grenelefe's accounts before the offer could become final. 

"It was a nice, clean offer," she said. 

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(c) 2002, The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.