OXFORD – Civil action against former Oxford Homes President Peter Connell of Norway is expected to go forward in Oxford County Superior Court now that a federal court OK’d it.

Late last week, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland granted the motion that allows action to be taken against Connell personally while bankruptcy court proceedings are ongoing.

Connell is being sued by Universal Forest Products, as a personal guarantor, in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris to recover more than $127,000 in unpaid bills. The Georgia-based company, which has a division in Maine, has been selling lumber to Oxford Homes since the late 1980s. Oxford Homes fell into arrears in 2006, according to the complaint.

“Pete Connell promised our client he personally would pay. That’s what we’re going after,” said Jeffrey Bennett of the Bennett law firm in Portland.

The motion was filed Oct. 19 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. According to court documents dated Oct. 24, the court granted the motion with no hearing necessary because the alleged debtor and petitioning creditors in the bankruptcy case consented to the action, and the court found that “good cause” exists to grant the motion.

At stake now is not only Connell’s business holdings, but his personal property, which includes a home on Kal Shores Road in Norway assessed for nearly $600,000, according to town records.

“Whatever assets a person owns. It’s no different than any other creditor collecting a bill,” said Bennett when asked what resources he could go after in the civil action. Bennett said the resources could include withholding Connell’s wages.

Connell is now president of Eco Systems Buildings in Oxford, the Massachusetts-based limited liability company that purchased the assets and a few liabilities of the 30-year-old Oxford Homes manufacturing business on Route 26 in Oxford this year.

Once the bankruptcy court signs the order, Bennett said he will file it in Superior Court, and a date will be set for the case to be heard.

Nine other companies from throughout New England filed an involuntary petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in August to force Oxford Homes into liquidation. The move was made to recover more than $300,000 in unsecured claims, according to papers filed in court.

The attorney for Oxford Homes has asked that the court dismiss the petition saying that dismissal would be in the best interest of the creditors. They have also asked for an independent examiner to be hired to investigate the company’s books and make a recommendation to the court regarding the request for dismissal. That action is expected to be heard at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 13 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Congress Street.