JOIN US MAY 20-21 FOR RESTORE CONFERENCE

Mary
DeMuth

Scot
McKnight

Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 1.50.18 PM

Naghmeh
Panahi

Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

Historic Black Church Files Suit Charging Lenders with Predatory Behavior

By Anne Stych
house of hope atlanta lenders
The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church, also known as House of Hope Atlanta, is located in Decatur, Georgia. (Courtesy Photo)

Attorneys representing an Atlanta megachurch have filed a lawsuit alleging the bank and investors group that financed its property engaged in predatory behavior, taking millions of dollars from the church as part of a widespread conspiracy that also targeted other African American churches.

The suit, filed by law firm Bell & Washington on behalf of Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church/House of Hope Atlanta argues that defendants American Investors Group and Herring Bank defrauded the church.

Greater Travelers, a 140-year-old church that currently has more than 10,000 members, was outgrowing its space in 2009 when it sought to buy the campus being vacated by Chapel Hill Harvester Church, a congregation that was engulfed in a scandal involving its pastor and founder, WSB-TV reported.

But the church says it now believes it was tricked into believing that to procure the property, it would have to assume the complex financing arrangement that Chapel Hill Harvester already had in place with Herring Bank and American Investors Group.

Greater Travelers/House of Hope has already paid about $15 million for property that is worth only $9 million, Bell & Washington attorney Quinton Washington said, and the defendants claim the church still owes more than $16 million.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Even If He Doesn’t: What We Believe about God When Life Doesn’t Make Sense” by Kristen LaValley. To donate, click here.

“It is a sad day when houses of worship are continuing to be targeted by predatory corporations seeking profit from communities of faith,” he said.

Under the financing arrangement, bonds were supposed to have been sold to investors to raise money for the church, but that never happened, Washington said. The suit also contends that the lenders inflated real estate appraisals, created a difficult-to-understand bond structure and misapplied and misappropriated payments to defraud the church.

Greater Travelers Pastor E. Dewey Smith and his finance team had initiated an investigation into the financing arrangement immediately after learning that former Herring National Bank Vice President Catana Gray, who was accused of accepting a $100,000 bribe related to their loan, had been banned from the banking industry by the Texas Banking Commission in September 2021.

Greater Travelers said one reason it wants the scheme exposed is to prevent other churches from being victimized.

“These types of legal fights too often go unfought, and many churches fall prey to companies seeking to take advantage of them,” said attorney David Dreyer.

This story originally appeared at MinistryWatch.

Anne StycheAnne Stych is a freelance writer, copy editor, proofreader and content manager covering science, technology, retail, and nonprofits. She writes for American City Business Journals’ BizWomen and MinistryWatch.

SHARE THIS:

GET EMAIL UPDATES!

Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox!

Don’t worry we won’t spam you.

More to explore
discussion

2 Responses

  1. Very interesting situation. I hope they’re able to get it sorted out successfully. It seems like their lawyer let them down at the time they made the deal.

  2. It did not seem likely that sexual sins would be the only temptations that would trip up the men called to the ministry.

Leave a Reply

The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Toward that end, the site requires that people register before they begin commenting. This means no anonymous comments will be allowed. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted.
 
MOST RECENT Articles
MOST popular articles
en_USEnglish

Donate

Hi. We see this is the third article this month you’ve found worth reading. Great! Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church?

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “The Atlas Factor: Shifting Leadership Onto the Shoulders of Jesus” by Lance Ford.