Will Ammon Bundy’s home sale be voided in St. Luke’s case? Idaho judge enters new order.

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A Gem County judge has ruled that far-right activist and former gubernatorial candidate Ammon Bundy has essentially forfeited a case over the sale of his home after he filed paperwork incorrectly for a second time.

The ruling is part of a civil suit filed by St. Luke’s Health System in an attempt to collect monetary damages that a jury ruled Bundy owes the health system and some staff members for defamation.

St. Luke’s asked 3rd District Judge Brent Whiting to undo the sale of Bundy’s home, alleging that it was done for the express purpose of putting an asset beyond a creditor’s reach, which is considered a fraudulent conveyance under the law. Now that Bundy has defaulted via the judge’s decision, the court could retroactively void the sale, made last year.

Bundy, who is representing himself, has not appeared at any of the hearings in the case.

Idaho Rule 55 mandates that when one party refuses to plead or defend themselves, the judge must enter a default order, according to the Idaho State Bar Association.

Whiting wrote in an order filed Thursday that he was finding Bundy in default, saying Bundy had “failed to plead or otherwise defend” himself since first being served with the St. Luke’s civil suit on Aug. 14.

The judge noted last month that Bundy had filed two documents in response to the suit. Filings can sometimes delay a default order, but he filed the paperwork incorrectly, turning them into the Gem County clerk without the required civil cover sheet and filing fee. Whiting gave Bundy until Oct. 26 to refile them correctly.

Bundy filed new documents on Oct. 25, but but they pertained to a different case involving St. Luke’s in Ada County, not the civil suit.

After finding out about the judge’s default order, Bundy filed an “urgent response” on Thursday asking Whiting to reconsider. Bundy said the wrong documents were filed “mistakenly,” something he realized only after he was “surprised” to receive the default order.

He then filed the proper documents, he said.

Whiting has not yet responded to Bundy’s request for him to reconsider.

Whiting already granted a preliminary injunction putting a limit on Bundy’s finances and preventing him from any further sales, taking on new financial obligations or transferring ownership of entities.

The set of incorrectly filed documents contained a number of allegations against the hospital system that were found to be defamatory in an Ada County court in July. Bundy alleged that this lawsuit was part of an “ongoing conspiracy” to “politically destroy” him.

The majority of one document’s contents were spent refuting the judge’s and jury’s decisions in the defamation case.

Bundy also denied the plaintiffs’ claims that the home sale was improper.

“Bundy has never ‘damaged any property, committed any violence or harmed any person,’” according to the document. “This would include the Plaintiffs claim that Bundy fraudulently sold his home to White Barn Enterprises to avoid the Plaintiff from taking it.”

Aaron Welling, a close associate of Bundy’s, purchased the property — and all the furniture and appliances in it — through his corporation White Barn Enterprises for $250,000 in December, according to court records.

Land Advisors Organization, a Boise real estate agency, stated in court filings that the house was worth at least $1 million. Bundy and his family have continued to rent the Emmett home and live there, according to court documents.