HAMMOND | BMW of North America claims in a new lawsuit that Levin BMW of Schererville owes the auto import company $24.9 million in outstanding loan payments, and the lawsuit requests a foreclosure and sale of the local luxury car dealership.

Levin BMW President Paul Levin said Monday his dealership's managers are working with BMW of North America on the issue. Levin, the third-generation leader of the family-owned business, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"We're open for business," Levin said.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Hammond federal court claims Levin BMW has defaulted on $24,851,594 in loans made by BMW Financial Services, the importer's financing arm, to the dealership between November 2007 and January 2009. As of Sept. 2, Levin had defaulted, and the dealership's executives violated the terms of one of the loans, a $6.1 million mortgage, by signing onto a "junior mortgage," the suit claims.

The lawsuit asks for $24.9 million in damages and a judgment ordering foreclosure and sale of the dealership at 1400 Indianapolis Blvd.

Lawyers for BMW Financial Services declined to comment Monday.

The junior mortgage, which is attached to the lawsuit, relates to former general manager Jason Davis, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. In the junior mortgage, Levin BMW executives appear to agree to pay Davis $4 million under a separation agreement. A phone operator at the dealership said Davis no longer works at Levin BMW, and he could not be reached for comment Monday.

Levin BMW moved from Chicago Heights to a gleaming $6 million dealership in Schererville in 2002. Leo Levin founded the dealership in 1949, and the dealership sold Pontiacs until 2002. Levin has sold the German luxury automobiles since the early 1980s.