We write to respond to a Sept. 16 Post article regarding a foreclosure that resulted from the failure of the leadership of Congregation Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach, Inc. to repay a $3.8 million loan from Stonegate Bank.
The headline of the article – “Lender wants property, Torahs to pay loan” – was seriously misleading. There was no threat to seize the Torahs and, indeed, the article quotes no such threat. In addition, the article contains several quotes by attorneys representing the Congregation Chabad-Lubavitch which appear designed to inflame the sensitivities of members of the congregation and the surrounding Jewish community.
We would like to assure your readers that any religiously significant items belonging to the synagogue will be handled with the utmost respect. We at Stonegate Bank are extremely sensitive to such concerns. The article, however, was correct in reporting that a motion had been filed in the bankruptcy court on Rosh Hashanah to reinstate the bank’s foreclosure action. The legal process to ask the bankruptcy court for permission to reinstate the foreclosure action began in August of this year. Our bankruptcy attorney did not take notice of the religious significance of the date the motion was filed, and we regret filing on that date.
Finally, we would again emphasize that the foreclosure action results from the Congregation Chabad-Lubavitch leadership’s failure to repay a loan. We worked tirelessly and in good faith to resolve this matter. Unfortunately, these efforts failed. At that point, the bank had a responsibility to institute the foreclosure process, as it would in any loan extended by the bank.
DAVE SELESKI
Fort Lauderdale
Editor’s note: David Seleski is president and CEO of Stonegate Bank.
(Source: Palm Beach Post)
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4 Responses
Now that the bank has issued a letter, perhaps the Kehilla can send them a copy of the Rebbi’s letter, and they will just forget the debt? If not , perhaps they can get an answer to their problem by putting the question of what to do in “the book” overnite.
Problem solved!
The bank is foreclosing on the real estate, not the contents therein.
If the shul cannot pay the arrears, then the prudent thing to do is find another location and move their possessions ASAP.
The bank has NO interest in owning sefrei torahs. They are not part of their investment portfolio.
actually, if the shul can’t pay it’s arrears, the moral and ethical thing to do would be to sell their assets (including the Sifrei Torahs, if need be) and pay what they owe. No one forced them to take the loan in the first place, and they have an halachic obligation to pay their debtors.
additionally, if they have the funds to move elsewhere, then those funds should go towards their arrears as well.