Atlanta church at risk of being sold over unpaid taxes it didn’t know it owed

An Atlanta church is at risk of being sold on the courthouse steps because of years of unpaid property taxes.

But as a registered nonprofit, Solid Rock Christian Ministries never owed property taxes for decades, and the pastor says they didn’t realize that had changed as the tax debt mounted.

“We had no idea we were getting notifications,” said Pastor Jahmaul Williams.

(DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV news app to get alerts when breaking news happens)

“We have never been required to pay taxes since the creation of this ministry, from 1978 until 2017. We were considered tax exempt,” he continued.

Williams said the church didn’t realize it had changed because the new tax bills were being sent to the home of a former pastor who died.

“For several years, the county had been mailing this tax bill to the previous pastor, who passed away in 1996,” he said.

More than 45 years ago, Pastor Williams’ grandmother donated her home to become the church’s headquarters in what has become a rapidly gentrifying northwest Atlanta neighborhood on Huff Road.

Fulton County sold the tax debt to a company called Investa Services, which is now seeking to foreclose on the property next month unless the small congregation pays $67,000 in tax debt, interest and fees.

“First Tuesday in August. We were informed that they were going to try to sell our property on the courthouse steps,” Williams said.

State Senator Donzella James pressured Fulton County for answers.

“I don’t understand how an active, functioning church in the community could go from being a nonprofit to a for-profit organization,” she said. Justin Gray, Channel 2 Consumer Investigator.

A county official told James they had revoked the church’s property tax exemption because of the way its title was recorded. It included a person’s name. It always did. The owner is recorded as “Johnson Carrie Admr Church.”

The church’s first pastor, Carrie Johnson, died in 1989.

“A lot of people are getting it wrong here. Now we need to put a stop to that and give them an opportunity to get their money back, rather than having their assets sold on the courthouse steps,” Senator James said.

The Church retained a lawyer and attempted to resolve the title issue.

For decades, those county property taxes were never a problem, and the church remains a nonprofit organization registered with the state and federal governments.

“We shouldn’t be taxed. We’re a church. We’re known to be a ministry,” Williams said.

Channel 2 Action News We have reached out to the Fulton County Tax Assessor’s Office and Investa Services for comment.

TRENDING STORIES:

Neither of them responded.

Under Georgia law, third-party lienholders are required to notify you within 60 days of assuming your debt.

They may charge you a one-time 10% penalty and 1% interest per month.

They must wait 12 months before seizure.

(SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Newscast)

IN OTHER NEWS: