If the debt is collateralized, I don’t think falsely claiming to be upside-down is a good negotiating tactic. In that case, if I’m the lender, I just foreclose on the property.
I really don’t know how any shareholder can defend UDF’s management at this point. You’ve gone 6.5 years with no financial statements and no shareholder meetings.
Meanwhile, the execs are still collecting their management fees, the company is presumably paying their legal fees, the stock has been delisted and has basically zero liquidity, dividends have been reduced by 80% and the BoD continues to sit there with its collective thumb up its ass.