MANATEE -- Brasota Mortgage Co. investors are getting an early Christmas gift.

Brasota trustee Gerard McHale Jr. will make another distribution this month, this time paying approximately $13 million to investors.

The company, which filed Chapter 11 in April of last year, has made two previous distributions. This one will bring the total to $56 million, or 40 percent of the unsecured claims. Investors can expect their checks in the mail around Dec. 15, but are being warned by McHale that, with the rush of mail during the holiday season, they should expect delays.

"Overall, I'm extremely pleased with where we are," he said. "This has been an absolute home run."

The company owes roughly $137 million to 1,778 family trusts, retirement accounts and individuals who invested in the company. Company officers filed for bankruptcy after they found the books millions of dollars off. Some of Brasota's deals are under investigation by the Office of Financial Regulation.

Brasota experienced a slowdown in collections in November, due to a slowdown in the real estate market, McHale said. Some of the loans have not been refinanced as soon as expected, he said.

"I had hoped I would have had $3 million more in collections in November," he said.

By the beginning of next year, McHale said, the bulk of the estate should be distributed. He estimates the company will recover up to 67 percent of the amount invested. He wrote in a letter to investors that he hopes this will happen in the first half of the new year.

"We're going to have dribble drabbles that will go on for God knows how long," he said. "Small checks, small distributions, two pennies on the dollar."

For instance, the company has at least 10 outstanding loans with a balance of less than $1 million that do not mature until 2008 or 2009.

While McHale wrote that the company has recovered most of the "low hanging fruit," some difficult collections remain. Hidden Hills, an equestrian farm for special-needs children in Parrish, remains the biggest challenge, he said. The principal on the loan is more than $3.2 million.

The property went up for auction in October, but no sale resulted. Brasota will make a motion for summary judgment in a hearing on Monday.

"If we're successful, we'll be going into foreclosure shortly," McHale said. "If we are not successful, we'll ask for a trial in early January."