Bank, church fight escalates

Boston black leaders plan to travel to Los Angeles next week to push minorities there to boycott OneUnited Bank over its plans to foreclose on Roxburys historic Charles Street AME Church.

We stand here today ... calling upon the black community to withdraw every dime they have in OneUnited Bank until they have worked out their differences (with the church), the Rev. Eugene Rivers III said yesterday at a protest convened outside the banks Grove Hall branch to launch the boycott.

In a week or so, (we) will be going to Los Angeles to meet with black church leaders (there) to organize the boycott until OneUnited Bank comes to the table, Rivers said.

Boston-based OneUnited which has branches in Massachusetts, California and Florida plans to foreclose on Charles Street AME next week.

The black-owned bank is taking action because the 194-year-old congregation failed to pay off a $1.1 million balloon mortgage that came due in December.

The overwhelming majority of our community lives up to their financial responsibilities, OneUnited said in a statement.

Charles Street says it would have refinanced into a new loan, but couldnt because of a long-running legal feud with OneUnited.

The bank sued the church in 2010 over a $3.6 million construction loan that the congregation took out to build an adjacent community center.

OneUnited cut off funding in 2009, leaving the project unfinished and the church unable to raise money to pay off the debt.

Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) and Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson joined ministers in calling for the boycott.

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Bank, church fight escalates