Property fight pits historic church against former pastor

The Baltimore Sun

One of the oldest African-American Baptist churches in the city is at war with its well-known former pastor and his supporters, a divisive battle playing out in Baltimore Circuit Court amid accusations of fraud, tax negligence and personal enrichment through church property.

The roots of the back-and-forth legal wrangling date to the mid-1990s, when Union Baptist Church knocked down nine rowhouses to build a child care center on Druid Hill Avenue.

But the property taxes weren't paid on the land on which one of the buildings stood, and the city sold it at a tax sale. The church's pastor, the Rev. Vernon N. Dobson, challenged the foreclosure and worked out a deal with the new owners: He would give them $12,000 in exchange for the deed.

However, Dobson's group says the investors' deed lists the property at 1201 Druid Hill Ave. as a single rowhouse when it should represent much of a city block -- the land on which the child care center now stands, according to court records. He sued the city and the owners.

Angry leaders of the 155-year-old church have since ousted Dobson, their longtime spiritual leader and a noted advocate for civil rights and the poor, blaming him for losing the building and for other pastoral leadership issues. They also have filed to intervene in Dobson's lawsuit, accusing him and two others of trying to reclaim the property for personal gain.

"Our goal is to get the building back," said Union Baptist's attorney Joshua M. Ambush. "The church regrets that it had to come to this. ... Ultimately we believe that it's the obligation of the trustees to protect the interests of the church."

Joseph C. Howard Jr., a member of Union Baptist who is named in the church's lawsuit, called it "totally frivolous."

"There is no evidence ... that we have benefited in any way. Our task has always been to serve the community," he said.

"We're really trying to reclaim the properties for the ministries -- the coffeehouse, laundromat, the child care center," he said.

State Sen. Delores G. Kelley, a Baltimore County Democrat who is chairwoman of the church's board of trustees, did not return calls for comment. Dobson declined to be interviewed on the advice of his attorney, Karin M. Kendrick. She also would not comment.

'Source of conflict'

"Reverend Dobson's efforts in this proceeding continue to be a source of conflict within the Church," the church states in one of its recent legal filings.

The property in question, 1201 Druid Hill Ave., was a rowhouse originally purchased in 1981 and converted to a community coffeehouse.

To make the coffeehouse project eligible for city grants, the church formed a development corporation that year, eventually known as Union Baptist Development Corp., and deeded the property in that firm's name. The corporation's charter was forfeited in 1996, however, for failing to file property tax returns. Dobson's group contends in its filings that the city incorrectly characterized the properties as residential when they should have been tax-exempt.

By that time, 1201 Druid Hill and eight other rowhouses on the same block as the church had been demolished to construct a Head Start child care center at Druid Hill Avenue and Dolphin Street. Court records state that the city's land records office consolidated the nine rowhouse lots, and the larger building became known as 1201 Druid Hill Ave.

According to court filings, Dobson said he did not receive bills for taxes owed on the original 1201 Druid Hill Ave. rowhouse property.

Christopher Lyons and Randolph Allen, investors from Queens, N.Y., had purchased it for $6,000 at a tax sale in 2002; they began foreclosure proceedings in 2004 and won their case the next year.

Both the city and the two investors agreed to settle the foreclosure dispute with Dobson -- the city paid the two New York men $6,000 and Dobson paid them $12,000. In exchange, the investors agreed to give Dobson the deed to the original rowhouse property on Druid Hill Avenue.

But Dobson would not accept the deed, saying it did not match the tax sale certificate. The investors thought they were buying a single rowhouse, which is what is reflected on the deed. But the certificate describes the property as nearly one-third of an acre, about half a city block.

Kendrick, Dobson's attorney, argues in court papers that her client should receive the larger property as reflected on the tax certificate -- a point disputed by the New York investors.

"We just want to reinstate the status quo," said Eileen A. Carpenter, attorney for the investors. "We can't give back more than we were given."

Later, in March 2005, Dobson revived the defunct development corporation's charter.

Lawsuit filed

In April last year, the corporation sued the investors and the city, asking the court to deem the tax sale null and void.

The suit also sought $15 million in compensation from the mayor, Baltimore's City Council and the city's director and former director of finance and collector of state taxes. Circuit Court judges have dismissed the case against the state and the city, but the case against the investors is pending. A hearing is set for September.

The church intervened in the suit and filed a counter-complaint accusing Dobson of fraud for neglecting to pay bills and file tax returns on time. The suit alleges he revived the development corporation's charter "only after the tax sale and foreclosure had taken place so that he could assert standing and claim ownership of Druid Hill Avenue."

Though Dobson was still pastor when he pursued the property, the church's board of trustees argues in its legal filings that "Reverend Dobson should have acted on behalf of the Church and not for an entity purporting to be one and the same as the one he knew was defunct and forfeit for over nine years."

Because the child care center has occupied the new 1201 Druid Hill building since it opened, the church claims in its suit that any property rights that might have been held by the development corporation really belong to the church.

In its suit, Union Baptist also levels fraud charges against Dobson's daughter, Sandra F. Dobson, who was listed as acting director when the corporation was revived, and Howard, the chairman of the development corporation. It also calls for compensatory damages and court costs from the three defendants.

Howard, who joined the development group's board in May, said he learned of the lawsuit Monday.

"We've been trying to resolve the property issue with the church," said Howard, who lives in Pikesville. "We believe, as we are trying to prove in court now, that the properties never should have been up for tax sale," he said.

Ambush, the church's attorney, says the dispute over the land should not affect the operation of the child care program. "The church is interested in preserving the child care facility," he said. "They've got a long-standing commitment to the community, and that's not going to change."

'Chilling effect'

The conflict "has had a divisive effect and a chilling effect among members who are simply uninformed about what is happening," he said.

Church leaders tried to resolve these issues quietly but felt they had to take legal action in order to unify the congregation, now made up of about 500 families, and continue its historic legacy, he said.

Dobson, 83, is an important part of that history. According to a biography on the church Web site, the Baltimore native became the church's pastor in 1967 and led Union Baptist for nearly four decades. He formally moved to emeritus status in July, according to court exhibits. The church appointed a new pastor, the Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway, last month.

Dobson has been recognized for his civil rights leadership and advocacy for the poor -- even in the resolution passed by church leaders in August 2005 calling for his resignation as pastor. He helped found the interfaith organization Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD) and has served as president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a clergy group.

During its history, the church has also opened a coin-operated laundromat, senior center, basketball league and other services. In a 1995 article in The Sun, Dobson said he had envisioned the Head Start building since the 1970s. The federally funded program first opened in 1968 and, after the center was built, enrolled about 250 children.

"I've known him to be a giant in this community," said the Rev. William C. Calhoun, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, also in Upton, and current president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.

He had not heard about the court filings and would not comment on them, but said he considered Dobson a mentor with a strong legacy of helping the community.

"He was a man of great integrity, as far as his witness was concerned," Calhoun said.

liz.kay@baltsun.com

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