Historic black church faces foreclosure from minority-owned bank

Others in same boat

According to Reuters news agency, church foreclosures have risen dramatically during the recession.

“Since 2010, 270 churches have been sold after defaulting on their loans, with 90 percent of those sales coming after a lender-triggered foreclosure, according to the real estate information company CoStar Group,” the news agency reported on March 9.

Reuters reported, “In 2011, 138 churches were sold by banks, an annual record, with no sign that these religious foreclosures are abating, according to CoStar. That compares to just 24 sales in 2008 and only a handful in the decade before.”

Mr. Bell recently “disinvested” his congregation’s money from the Bank of America in protest of that bank’s home foreclosure practices. Having a bank auction off a church property is equally troubling, Mr. Bell said.

“This is like foreclosing on 300 families all at once, or however many families are in this church,” Mr. Bell said of the pending Charles Street foreclosure. “With this historic church, it has been a guardian of this public trust. It’s more than just a financial contract, it’s a cultural contract.”

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