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Former Syracuse University running back Floyd Little, now a special assistant to the athletic director at SU, introduces football coach Scott Shafer at an event at Destiny USA in April.
(Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - One of Detroit's Big Three is going after one of Syracuse's legendary 44s.
The Ford Motor Company sued former SU running back Floyd Little in federal court in Syracuse last month, claiming he owes $1.5 million in defaulted loans over his defunct auto dealership in Washington state.
Little, 72, lives in Syracuse and since 2011 has worked for SU as special assistant to the athletic director.
The lawsuit, filed by Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, claims Little and his F.D. Little Family Limited Partnership, defaulted on a mortgage and a line of credit related to the former Pacific Coast Ford dealership in Federal Way, Wash.
Little started the dealership in 1990.
It went out of business in December 2009 and Ford agreed to give Little more time to pay back the loans until he sold the property, the lawsuit said. He never did, and Ford bought it in a foreclosure sale in 2012, the lawsuit said.
As of May 2013, Little's partnership owed Ford $1.47 million, with interest accruing since then, the suit said.
Little said today he's working with Ford to settle the lawsuit out of court.
"All it is is the real estate that I owned, that I bought from them, and they took it back," he said."That's all."
The $1.5 million is the balance on the property after Ford got it back, he said.
"So it's really not that," he said. "I'm in the process of working that out with Ford as we speak."
In a story published in July 2009 in the Federal Way Mirror, he's quoted as saying the 2008 downturn in the economy ruined his business.
"I can't control what's happening," Little said. "The economy tanked."
His dealership was paying about $40,000 a month to keep new Ford vehicles on the lot, the story said.
"Franchises are closing every day," Little is quoted as saying in the story. "We thought we got in front of the train."
Little was in a line of famous SU running backs to wear No. 44.
He's in both the college and professional football halls of fame. He was a three-time All-American at SU, and a five-time pro-bowler with the Denver Broncos. He graduated from SU in 1967. He went on to get a law degree from the University of Denver in 1975, according to SU's website.
Contact John O'Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 315-470-2187.