Faced with foreclosure, the loss of its franchise affiliation and a river of red ink, the owner of the former Hilton Pittsburgh took defensive action Tuesday, filing for protection in U.S. bankruptcy court.

For now, the decision by Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC blocks lender BlackRock Financial Management Inc. from foreclosing on the city's largest hotel, with more than 700 rooms, or having a receiver appointed to run it.

Jonathan Kamin, Shubh's attorney, said the bankruptcy would have no impact on operations at the property, situated at the entrance to the Golden Triangle from the Fort Pitt Bridge. The hotel, he said, remains "open for business."

In filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Pittsburgh, Shubh estimated its liabilities at $50 million to $100 million and the number of creditors at 100 to 199. It also reported $10 million to $50 million in assets.

Shubh listed BlackRock as its largest creditor, at $20 million, which it stated represents the undersecured portion of the hotel mortgage.

Other major creditors included Hilton Hotels Corp., owed $4.2 million, and Crescent Hotels & Resorts, the Virginia-based hotel management company Shubh dismissed last month after a court battle with BlackRock. It is owed $672,826. Shubh also listed more than $700,000 in debts to four pension funds and $37,762 owed to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

BlackRock moved to foreclose Friday, a day after Hilton Hotels & Resorts announced it had terminated its franchise license agreement with Shubh. As a result, the hotel not only lost the use of the Hilton name but a place in its reservations system.

In a complaint filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, BlackRock said the loss of the Hilton franchise amounted to a default of the mortgage agreement. It sought a court-ordered sale of the hotel and a judgment in the amount of $49.6 million, the amount of the loan held by Shubh.

Mr. Kamin said the actions by BlackRock and Hilton left Shubh with little choice but to file for protection. The bankruptcy, he said, would give Shubh adequate time to restructure the property and its obligations to creditors.

He did not know how long that would take.

"There are a lot of moving parts that have to be dealt with. Certainly we're going to try to emerge as quickly as we can with a restructured operation. I don't know that we'll be as fast as GM was but we're going to look to move it as quickly as we can," he said.

At the same time, he would not say whether Shubh, which has racked up millions of dollars in liens and judgments because of unpaid bills, is interested in remaining owner of the hotel, which it purchased for $28 million in 2006.

"They're interested in facilitating a restructuring that is beneficial to all the parties," he said.

Last week, after Hilton announced that it had terminated the franchise license agreement, Shubh said it had transferred control of the hotel to Dr. Kiran C. Patel, a Tampa, Fla., cardiologist and philanthropist.

Under the arrangement, Mr. Patel is to own 89 percent of the property and Shubh 11 percent. Mr. Kamin would not say if Mr. Patel is now in charge of the hotel.

"I'm not going to comment on who's in charge or exactly what's going to happen because I wouldn't want to ... impact the sensitive negotiations that are taking place," he said.

At this point, the bankruptcy filing operates like an "enormous police whistle" that prevents the lender and other creditors from taking any further action against Shubh without permission from the court, said Doug Campbell, a local bankruptcy attorney.

"It's like throwing a log across the road to stop somebody from pursuing you," he said. "It stops the foreclosure, but perhaps not permanently."

Mr. Campbell said that BlackRock still could petition the court to move ahead with the foreclosure. However, that is not always the best course of action, since such sales typically do not generate top dollar and could be detrimental to creditors.

In some cases, an orderly sale, one agreed to by both the owner and the lender, might produce more value for the property, he said.

Robert P. Simons, BlackRock's attorney, said foreclosure remains "an option," but stressed that he had to discuss the situation with the lender before saying anything more.

"My first instinct is to try to work constructively in a situation like that, being faced with the borrower filing bankruptcy. We're going to at least start to try to approach it in a positive manner," he said.

He said he hoped to work with lawyers for Shubh to put together an agreement that would govern how hotel revenues are spent.

The bankruptcy, Mr. Simons said, has no effect on the termination of the franchise license agreement since it was ended before the Chapter 11 filing.

Mr. Kamin said the hotel was "still in negotiations and discussion" with Hilton in an effort to get the franchise back. In the meantime, Shubh will continue to use the Hilton name.

"We are continuing to do what we're doing and continuing to use the 'Hilton' until such point that we either have a new deal with Hilton or have a new name to use," he said.

Ivana Krajcinovic, a spokeswoman for Unite Here local 57, a union that represents about 200 hotel workers, said the union remains "deeply concerned about the viability of the property."

"We're hoping the bankruptcy court can instill some order in what has been a chaotic situation and get the hotel back on its feet," she said.

"Money Q&A" and "Company Town" are featured exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.