Local real estate investor Laura Geiger has told the Taft Independent that she quit making payments in May 2009 on the Midway Sunset Antique Building that she had purchased from Councilman Craig Noble in December 2008.

Geiger said that she purchased the building from Noble in December 2008 as an investment, and to help Noble retain his city council seat which was in question because Noble was leasing city land where the building was located, a conflict of interest that could force Noble to resign from the council.

In November and December 2008, Councilman Cliff Thompson made the conflict an issue before the city council and publicly told Noble he should resign from the council.

Geiger said that Thompson had called her in December to see if she was interested in buying the building.

Taft City Councilman Craig Noble has not returned calls to the Independent to answer questions about the real estate deal.

"For now, we don't know exactly who owns the building," said Councilman Randy Miller.

The city council has held two closed session meetings to discuss the issue, the most recent at Tuesday's city council meeting, but no action on the issue had been reported by the council.

A city offical had asserted in a meeting at city hall two weeks ago that the city was now the owner of the building.

The Independent has made a Freedom of Information Act request to the Taft City clerk for information and documents pertaining to ownership of the build and any lease agreements.

Geiger told the Independent that she had received an email from the city in October 2009 that her land lease where the building is located had been terminated.