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Mayor has angry words for bank threatening to foreclose on historic Roxbury church

The Herald reports on Tom Menino's ire towards the bank that's scheduled an auction of the Charles Street AME Church, whose pastor Menino appointed to the School Committee.

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Comments

The bank doesn't really look so good in this quarrel, does it? Foreclosures can be a painful but necessary part of the real estate / mortgage market, but I don't see how pulling the deed from a church helps anyone out.

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The bank looks good to me. They are doing what banks do, and have always done. Banks do not exist to give away money. Banks are not charities. If banks did not enforce payment on outstanding loans, they would quickly become insolvent.

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As far as I can tell from the article, the church took out a loan using the property as collateral. Did they default on that loan? It's not clear from the article. Balloon mortgages are so risky from the borrowers' perspective.

Is this "greed", or the execution of a clause that both parties agreed upon when the bank lent them millions of dollars? Did the bank commit fraud during this process? This is a crummy situation for the church, for sure, hopefully they can come to terms that will be in both parties' interests.

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Once they went to get one, why didn't they apply for a mortgage they understood, and were going to be able to repay? This seems like poor planning.

Don't know about anyone else here, but if I'm going to build something, such as a church extension, I make sure I have all of the money to do it beforehand.

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Further, businesses shouldn't be allowed to finance unless they have liquid assets to pay for it up front?

Paying in cash and having savings is a nice idea, but it's not how the economy has ever worked, or ever will. It's how your checkbook works. Investment, thus debt, is capitalism.

That's not saying this loan should have never been taken out, nor that the lender probably rebuked it's responsibilities to it's shareholders and offered a bad loan in the first place.

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When I do, it will be with cash, and I'm well on my way to doing it thanks to careful planning.

Can we really compare the checkbooks of individuals to those of corporate entities? I agree, many people have a difficult time managing their own finances, and do go into debt to live. Some how I feel someone in charge of something, such as a church, needs to have a firm understanding of a church's financial standings and needs.

How many people here can even calculate what their own mortgage will be, or is? Show of hands? It's not nearly as straightforward as multiplying the property times the loan interest, adding it, then dividing by 30, for a 30-year mortgage. It's more complex than a lot of people can understand. Here's what the formula looks like:

http://qrc.depaul.edu/StudyGuide2009/Notes/Savings...

If a person can't work with that simple equation, then they have no business taking out a mortgage for a church, or any other large institution.

If a church truly understands the loan, and plans for the project(s), then this won't happen.

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Try refusing to pay your property tax in Boston, and see how far it gets you when you tell Mumbles he's being greedy.

A contract was signed. One side upheld their side of the bargain. One didn't. Unless you think contract law in Massachusetts is a matter of whim, contracts must be enforced.

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He should write a check or STFU. Did this option not dawn on him? I love how his default response to EVERYTHING is kicking and screaming. He's 70 going on 6. It's amazing.

Elect him again.

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As much as I like Mayor Menino...this is not his fight. The question that needs to be asked in an open forum is: Where is the money that Dr.Rev. Groover received - from numerous campaigns at his church, grants, donations, and of course, the loans?

Let this be a lesson to Dr. Rev. Groover and other pastors in this community that feel they can serve to masters. You can consider the church big business if you want - then be subject to the same rules as businesses. Consider the church as a sanctuary for ALL people relying on the Holy Trinity for guidance and realize the glory that is God which includes His love, mercy, and making a way out of no way!

There is help for the historic Charles St Ame Church....it begins with the head pastor humbling himself before God, repenting for allowing his ego to overwhelm him and seeking the Lord for guidance.

May God have HIS will done in this matter.

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