Foreclosures Are Now Knocking on Church Doors
Foreclosures respect nothing – they are now knocking on church doors. During the time of the housing boom the church authorities dreamt in a big way – dreams that are turning into nightmares of debt and foreclosures.
Recently a survey is being undertaken about churches and foreclosures. It is not clear as yet how many churches are at present on the brink of foreclosures. The records are scattered across the country. Completion of the foreclosure process sometimes runs into months and this leads to inaccuracies in the records of the company. The clergy of the financially stressed churches are reluctant to discuss their predicament. It is understandable they do not want the congregations to be alarmed. They are also apprehensive that any complaints against the banks might backfire.
Bishop Eugene Reeves (New Life Anointed Ministries International of Woolbridge) aptly said, “Right now, when you’re at the mercy of the lenders, you don’t want to look like you’re coming out against them.” This Pentecostal church close to Washington requires some millions in dollars to complete a project, estimated at $19 million. Last spring, work on it came to a halt when the lender refused to sanction any further loans to the church. Reeves bemoaned, “We now have children who don’t have classrooms to get into, adults who have to go to an overflow room. We have parking issues. We don’t have enough spaces for cars.”
Across America, congregations both large and modest are battling with debts. A company in Atlanta, Reliance Trust, is trustee for about 3/4th of the all the church bonds in the country. It has noticed “some increases in delinquencies” said Tony Greene its spokesperson. He declined to give further details.
Temple Beth Haverim located in Agoura Hills, California is one of its clients that has sought protection by filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In July 2008 the religious body owed its lender over $7 million. This was stated by Reliance in its court filings. The value of the property is less than what the synagogue owes to its lender.
Strongtower Financial said that 10% of its $119 million outstanding loans (arm of California Baptist Foundation) were running in default as on 31st March 2008. In its most recent data, Chet Reid, the president of Strongtower said that the specific details were private and could not be disclosed. However he disclosed that the company had to deal with only one foreclosure during the last decade – that was in 2006.
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