Lenders that forced the closure of Lawrence-based Farmers Cooperative Assn. by pulling its line of credit two years ago may be sued by the board overseeing the bankrupt co-op’s assets.

Tom Haney, a Topeka attorney, confirmed he had been hired by the board to investigate filing a lender-liability lawsuit against CoBank, the Denver-based bank that pulled the co-op’s line of credit in September of 2000.

Haney declined to comment on the amount of monetary damages the co-op may seek, but said any amount won would be used to pay the company’s 5,800 members, who are owed about $8 million in patronage payments.

Haney also declined to comment on specific allegations the suit may make, but said it generally would revolve around whether CoBank, and possibly other lenders the co-op dealt with, honored lending agreements.

“It is a situation where if someone has lost an ongoing, viable business for reasons other than their own, there are actions they can and should take,” Haney said. “A lawsuit like this would be one of those actions. It’s just like if you are injured in a car accident that isn’t your fault.”

Haney said a final decision hadn’t been made on whether to file a lawsuit against CoBank. But Pat Ross, a Lawrence farmer and member of the FCA Post Confirmation Trust Board, said the group was leaning toward it.

“I’d say we have pretty much decided to file suit against them,” Ross said. “I think it is the best way to protect everybody’s interests and we’ve been told it may be worthwhile.”

Haney said a final decision on whether to file a lawsuit will need to be made by mid-September, which is when the statute of limitations would run out on many of the co-op’s claims.

Ross and other co-op officials were reluctant to discuss the specifics of how they would argue that CoBank broke an agreement that forced the co-op to close its business in the thick of the 2000 fall harvest.

But Dean Nieder, a board member of the co-op at the time it declared bankruptcy, said co-op officials believed they had an agreement that CoBank wouldn’t pull its line of credit when it did.

“We thought we had two or three more months than we did,” Nieder said. “We thought we would be able to make it through fall harvest, which was a good one, and be able to use that money to pay off our debt.”

Instead, CoBank pulled the line of credit in mid-September of 2000, causing checks the co-op had issued to area farmers and businesses to bounce. The co-op has since sold its assets and paid all its debts, except for patronage payments.

Jack Cassidy, a CoBank spokesman, said the company didn’t think it broke any agreements with the cooperative, but declined further comment.