Bank of Montreal will acquire the Whiting Ranch.

The bank is taking possession of the 2,700-acre Orange County ranch from Carma Developers “in lieu of foreclosure” for payment of a $35-million debt on a delinquent loan, an attorney for the bank confirmed. Attorney Dennis Arnold said that Carma Developers, a Houston-based company whose Canadian parent, Carma Ltd., is in financial trouble, has agreed to sell the undeveloped property north of El Toro to JC/RG Corp., a newly formed subsidiary of the bank, for a relatively small fee to cover expenses.