Kimber House Slated For Foreclosure

by Melissa Bailey | November 16, 2009 12:17 PM | | Comments (30)

IMG_6930.jpgDSCN2618.JPGThe IRS and two mortgage lenders are chasing after a prominent preacher and city fire commissioner, as Sheffield Avenue loses another house to foreclosure.

The Rev. Boise Kimber (pictured) racked up nearly $300,000 in debt on 100 Sheffield Ave. by defaulting on two loans and failing to pay income tax for five years, court records show. The financial woes came to a head on Oct. 26, when a judge ordered the three-story house to be sold through foreclosure.

Enter IRS

The debt includes $40,000 that Kimber owes to the federal government for unpaid income tax. A foreclosure sale is set for Jan. 23 at noon.

Kimber, pastor of the First Calvary Baptist Church, serves on the city fire commission and has long helped Mayor John DeStefano maintain political power in the city’s black community. Click here to read about his history of influence and political connections.

Kimber bought 100 Sheffield with his first wife in 1988. The house, whose white pillars look newly painted, sits near the corner of Starr Street on a quiet residential stretch of the Newhallville neighborhood. Kimber doesn’t live there anymore. Neighbors said the home has been used as lodging for students.

Kimber did not return messages left at his church and with a spokesman for this story.

The slated foreclosure will hit a street in a neighborhood that has already taken a hard blow from a national lending crisis and recession that forced homeowners to give up their houses.

Sheffield Avenue has seen an especially high number of foreclosures in the past three years, said Eva Heintzelman, who runs a foreclosure task force called ROOF. There have been seven completed foreclosures on Sheffield Avenue since the beginning of 2007, Heintzelman said. That’s about 10 percent of the 72 properties on the street.

100 Sheffield’s recent history shows a flurry of transactions. Since he bought it in 1988, Kimber flipped the house back and forth at least eight times between himself and his church.

Debts mounted in October 2005, when the Internal Revenue Services slapped a lien on the home for Kimber’s unpaid income tax. The IRS placed another lien in May 2006. Together, the liens add up to just over $40,000. The missed taxes cover five tax years ending in 2004.

City Tax Flap

Troubles mounted in 2008, when City Hall noticed that Kimber had been skipping out on paying at least $7,000 in city taxes: Click here for Betsy Yagla’s Advocate story on the topic.

The trouble stemmed from an alleged misuse of a tax exemption. The home was originally granted a tax exemption because it was a “parsonage ancillary to the church,” according to city Tax Assessor Bill O’Brien.

Kimber began enjoying that exemption starting “sometime prior to 1999,” said O’Brien. Kimber first lived in the house with his then-wife, Pecolia Kimber. While the reverend lived there, it qualified as a parish home, justifying the exemption.

However, Kimber moved out sometime around 2005, when he filed for divorce. A 2006 divorce settlement left Pecolia the right to live in the home, and left him the duty of paying taxes there. The reverend kept the property registered as tax-exempt while Pecolia Kimber continued to live there.

City Hall caught wind of the impropriety in 2008. O’Brien said he noticed that the property title at 100 Sheffield had changed.

Kimber transferred the house from the church into his own name on Jan. 17, 2008, according to land records. He didn’t record the sale until one month had passed. He didn’t tell the city that the property was no longer tax-exempt, O’Brien said.

When O’Brien noticed the home had changed hands, he put the property back on the tax rolls. Kimber has since paid all the taxes owed on that home, according to city officials.

Lenders Pile On

After the city tax problem, Kimber faced a greater challenge from two mortgage companies, both of which filed lawsuits this year seeking to seize the home.

The US Bank National Association filed a foreclosure suit on June 19 of this year, pursuing Kimber for defaulting on a mortgage. Kimber took out a $168,000 loan from People’s Choice Home Loan, Inc. on Oct. 13, 2005. The loan was later transferred to US Bank. Kimber failed to keep up with the payments. The debt blew up in part due to a 9.99 percent interest levied on the principal because of missed payments dating back to February.

By Oct. 10, 2009, Kimber owed over $195,000 to US Bank, court records show.

On the heels of the first foreclosure suit came a second one. The Co-For Corporation filed suit on Sept. 30, claiming over $100,000 in debt, too. That company is the secondary mortgage holder on the home. The debt sprung from a $40,000 mortgage taken out 21 years ago. The loan was issued in 1988 to: Kimber and his then-wife Pecolia Kimber, Helen Adams, and Charles and Sarah Brewer.

Since then, all of those parties have had bad luck holding on to their homes.

The Co-For mortgage was issued on May 4, 1988. On May 5, Adams, the Brewers and the Kimbers and the two couples each bought a home. No one appears to have made any payments on the Co-For loan. The parties reworked their agreement in 2005: They agreed to delay payment for a few years, then pay in full in September 2008. However, the loan was never repaid. Two decades after it was issued, the loan has now grown to $103,000, according to Co-For’s suit.

All three homes were hit with foreclosure suits, one of which ended in a foreclosure by sale on 180 Osborne Ave.

The Co-For claim leaves 100 Sheffield straddled with over $300,000 in debt. Kimber’s house is severely “upside-down,” meaning the debt far outweighs the value. A recent appraisal put the value at $155,000, while the debt had grown to twice that figure.

No one answered the door at the home during an afternoon visit last week. The house looked occupied: a Ford Taurus and an old Chevy DeVille sat in the driveway, and a silver car with Virginia plates sat parked out front.

The home would be the third house to fall prey to foreclosure this year, Heinztelman said. ROOF identified Newhallville as one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the mortgage crisis.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Foreclosure Law Has Her Back
• Who Pays The Pawn Shop?
• Foreclosed House Flipped, Then Burned
• A “Reverse” Foreclosure
• Still No New Family At Kohary House
• Foreclosure Purchase keeps Tomatoes Alive
• Rerun On Atwater Street
• City Left Holding Foreclosed House
• WPCA Fails To Uproot Family
• A New Haven Dream Foreclosed
• This Is The Face Of Deutsche Bank
• Out-of-Town Bankords Respond To Call
• Banks Duck City On Foreclosed Homes
• Rescue Squad Hunts For “Tipping Points”
• John Wins A Loser
• Still A Bargain, Foreclosure Price Zooms
• Flippers Get 2nd Shot At Fixer-Upper
• Suburban Cop Finds A City Steal
• Absentee Banklords Thwart Foreclosure Sales
• City Forecloses On 40 Lots
• Crowd Seeks Cure For “Mortgage Distress”
• Donovan: “Help Is On The Way”
• Judge Forces WPCA To Give Mom A Chance
• WPCA Uproots Tenants, Too
• Home-Rescue Squad Ignores WPCA
• Sewer Agency Unloads House
• Foreclosure Evictions Halted
• Let The Bank Have It, This Time
• Hazel St. Sale Reflects Economic Climate
• Hill Foreclosure Triggers Memories, & Prayers
• Foreclosure Fee-Slashing Judge Leaves Town
• She’ll Be Watching Deutsche Bank
• A Last Pre-Foreclosure Look At A Lifetime Past
• New Yorker Snags Foreclosed-Upon Gem
• Foreclosure Dream Goes Sour
• Judge Slashes Foreclosure Bounty
• Tax Break Saves Woman’s House
• Bank Replaces “Gunshot Alley” Landlord
• Foreclosure Bill OK’d
• Singh Seeks Home For A Song
• Foreclosure’s Neighbor Worries More About Speeding
• Networking Replaces Foreclosure at Christy’s
• Foreclosure Bargain — & Renewal — Jeopardized
• Bank Outbids Akbar; Family May Keep Home
• “So Don’t Worry About Pablo”
• Bankruptcy Postpones Foreclosure
• Next-Door Foreclosures, 53 Years Apart
• They Met On Foreclosure Way
• Little Garage Draws Big Bids
• A 2nd Chance on Lewis Street
• Foreclosure Attracts New Breed of “Specialist”
• In Foreclosures, Judge’s Hands Tied
• Home Saved From Foreclosure. Cycle, Too
• A House For Precious?
• Deutsche Bank Grabs Dixwell Condo
• Reluctant Bidder Snags F. Haven Bargain
• Well, There’s Always Powerball
• Neighbors Retrieve Home From Bank
• Somebody Has Plans For Bassett Street
• Foreclosed, the Khennavongs Leave the Santanas
• Foreclosure Steal May Be Too Good
• 2nd Foreclosure in 3 Months Dims Bright St.
• After Foreclosure, W’ville Owner Still Hopes To Sell
• He’s Not Buying, Yet
• Quiet Foreclosure on Porter Street
• 3 Minutes Too Late
• Historic Gambardella Property Foreclosed
•2 Homes Lost, 1 Gained
• “Everybody’s Got To Eat”
• More Foreclosures, More Signs
• Foreclosure Sale Benefits Archie Moore’s
• Rescue Squad Swings Into Action
• A Bidder Shows Up
• Bank Beats Tanya’s Bid
• Westville Auction Draws A Crowd
• DeStefano: Foreclosure Plan Ready
• Can They Help?
• “We Should Over-Regulate These Bastards”
• Rosa Hears of Rescues
• WPCA Grilled on Foreclosures
• WPCA’s Targets Struggle To Dig Out
• Sue The Subprimers?
• WPCA Hearing Delayed
• Megna’s “Blood Boils” at WPCA Tactics
• Goldfield Wants WPCA Answers
• 2 Days, 8 Foreclosure Suits
• WPCA Goes On Foreclosure Binge
• A Guru Weighs In
• WPCA Targets Church
• Subprime Mess Targeted
• Renters Caught In Foreclosure King’s Fall
• She’s One Of 1,150 In The Foreclosure Mill
• Foreclosures Threaten Perrotti’s Empire
•“I’m Not Going To Lay Down And Let Them Take My House”
• Struggling Couple Sues Over “Scam”

To learn about the ROOF Project, a community-wide effort to help New Haveners navigate the foreclosure crisis, click here.

The following links are to various materials and brochures designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

How to prepare a complaint to the Department of Banking; Department of Banking Online Assistance Form; Connecticut Department of Banking, Avoiding Foreclosure; FDIC Consumer News; Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc; Connecticut Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

For lawyer referral services in New Haven, call 562-5750 or visit this website. For the Department of Social Services (DSS) Eviction Foreclosure Prevention Program (EFPP), call 211 to see which community-based organization in the state serves your town.

Click here for information on foreclosure prevention efforts from Empower New Haven.







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Comments

Posted by: Moreorless | November 16, 2009 1:20 PM

Typical New Haven politics--a tax-scofflaw gets a civilian appointed position by the Mayor--what a joke this city is!
Have some ethical standards for your appointed people Mr. Mayor. This man proves how corrupt your put-in-place system is. He should be removed from any office until his debts are paid in full.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | November 16, 2009 1:44 PM

Moreorless

Amen to that!!!!!!!

Posted by: fd insider | November 16, 2009 2:09 PM

So you are telling me that Kimber a convicted felon, is also a tax schemer and tax deadbeat?

Hey he is still on the fireboard as a commish!

His resignation should be demanded!

Look at the money he has cost and will continue to cost the city in the new haven 20 case. Read about the case here http://www.newhaven20.com

Now he is a tax evader, and a mortgage deadbeat.

Maybe he has ties to ACORN that could bail him out (pun intended).

Posted by: fedupwithliberals | November 16, 2009 2:28 PM

Why doesn't this story surprise me?

Posted by: Bruce | November 16, 2009 2:39 PM

So the Co-For loan has been outstanding for over 20 years without a single payment? Fishy.

Posted by: walt bradley | November 16, 2009 4:34 PM

It's god's will.

Posted by: fedupwithselfrighteousconservatives | November 16, 2009 5:29 PM

The only thing surprising about this is that the city had the guts to charge him for his taxes.

As for the right wingers above, I have two words to say to you--glass houses

Posted by: Claudia Herrera | November 16, 2009 6:23 PM

WoW! and I'm upset with my eldermen's DUI ...and church people hated my coments.

Posted by: dkr | November 16, 2009 7:00 PM

such a fine outstanding community leader,..

Posted by: dkr | November 16, 2009 9:02 PM

Yet again, i'm not surprised that a "leopard doesn't change it's spot". Another so called "community activist" who allegedly has "turned his life around" for the good of the community and betterment for himself, has embarassed the City of New Haven, and it's hard working HONEST taxpayers. Perhaps we should wonder why Mayor Destefano put ... on the Board of Fire Commissioners? Hmmmm,.. ...

Posted by: Hydrant | November 17, 2009 6:45 AM

Mayor you owe [him] nothing. ...

Posted by: fedupwithliberals | November 17, 2009 9:45 AM

FEDUPWITHRIGHTEOUSCONSERVATIVES

You gotta be kiddin me! Try to top these upstanding citizens for tax accountability!

Tim Geithner
Charles Rangel
Chris Dodd
Kathlleen Sebelius
Tom Daschle
Nancy Killefer

Posted by: LtMike | November 17, 2009 12:14 PM

Gosh, I would have been the first to post, but could not quite get what I wanted to say down properly. After reading the first few posts... THANK YOU! On the money, what more is really to say. This guy has done more wrong than good in a landslide and walks around like he is owed something! ... quick message to the Mayor: look at the voter turnout.... you don't NEED him for re-election... nobody votes anyhow!

Posted by: cba | November 17, 2009 12:24 PM

perhaps,kimber should call marshall criscuolo to aid him in his hour of need

Posted by: recent_cloud | November 17, 2009 12:54 PM

another hit piece on a black preacher who's trying to do his community some good.

the new haven independent is not independent, it's part of the media machine to embarrass the reverend.

melissa, you're turning into a bully just like your boss.

Posted by: whatever | November 17, 2009 2:18 PM

Recent Count:

Are you kidding? What community is he trying to do good in?

Posted by: recent_cloud | November 17, 2009 3:49 PM

exactly my point, whatever.

if you simply go by what you read in the register or this newspaper you'd not know one good deed he's done.

you have no idea how many people are offended by what they read here today.

they just see no point in saying anything because they feel things will never change.

Posted by: main stream reader | November 17, 2009 4:25 PM

I just want to say thanks to paul bass, I dont agree with his politics, but I have to say, where the hell is the mainstream media on this. Nothing in the register and it was buried on the 11pm news. This story is corruption at its best and yet we see nothing.

...

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | November 17, 2009 4:50 PM

recent_cloud

"another hit piece on a black preacher who's trying to do his community some good.

"the new haven independent is not independent, it's part of the media machine to embarrass the reverend.

"melissa, you're turning into a bully just like your boss. "

Wow.I don't think so. In fact His record speaks for it self.

The perception is that he can deliver the black vote during an election. There are a lot of people in the black community who don�t support Boise, and they don�t think he has the best interest of the black community at heart,� the former official said.

Kimber has been a lightning rod over the past decade, attracting headlines for his work as pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church, as he has for alleged misconduct.

Last year, Kimber�s actions sparked an overhaul of the city�s towing practices after he was found attempting to block a tow operator from seizing his car, parked next to a fire hydrant. He owed $350 in unpaid parking tickets at the time.

In 2003, he was accused of choking a teenager who had been campaigning against DeStefano.

In 2002, he made headlines when, as chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, he made a comment about recruits with �too many vowels� in their names, perceived as a slur against Italian-Americans.

After the fallout, he stepped down as chairman, but remains on the board.

Kimber was found guilty of larceny and perjury in 1996 after he was accused of misappropriating $3,900 set aside for a woman�s funeral while he managed the Perkins Funeral Home in the early 1990s. He received five years probation and paid a $2,500 fine.

With a record like this I don't think that this was a hit. Now my opinion most of the prechers are nothing more than Pimps and Prostitutes in collars. Across this country the majority of them
are in bed with the political machine.

http://bloombergwatch.com/index.php/10/bloomberg-courts-the-black-clergy-with-1-million/

And this is happing here in new haven.

In fact look at what Donnie McClurkin has to say.

http://abcpreachers.ning.com/forum/topics/donnie-mcclurkin-pimps-in-the?id=916966%3ATopic%3A999766&page=2#comments

No sir I don't think it was a hit. Rember the truth will set you free.

Posted by: fedupwithselfrighteousconservatives | November 17, 2009 6:48 PM

since you asked...off the top of my head
John Rowland
Paul Silvester
Philip Giordano
Tom Delay
Bernie Kerik
Randy "Duke" Cunningham


fine upstanding citizens...note that I listed ones that have been indicted and most served jail time. I think that trumps your list of unindicted alleged tax cheats.

In any event, I'm sure you can find crooks in both parties---just don't even try to pretend that Republicans are clean.

Posted by: Common Sense | November 17, 2009 7:41 PM

Where there's smoke....there is fire....It's time to put the Fire Commissioner out...

Posted by: thatguy | November 17, 2009 8:44 PM

Do you think Ned Lamont is regretting having the good Rev's Sharpton and Kimber on stage with him the night of the primary in '06?

Posted by: TruthHurts | November 18, 2009 2:08 AM

@ThreeFifths could not have said it better. ...Good does not always overshadow the bad deeds done. ...

Posted by: fedupwithliberals | November 18, 2009 8:22 AM

FEDUPWITHSELFRIGHTEOUSCONSERVATIVES

The subject at hand was tax evasion. That's what I spoke to. Not one person in your list of Republicans was convicted of tax evasion. Of course there are crooks on both sides! The only reason that all parties mentioned in my comment are "unindicted alleged tax cheats" is that your party who claimed to have the "most ethical, ethical administration" will not use the same standards of prosecution on their own that they level against their opposition. Rangel admits freely that he is guilty of tax evasion and still serves as Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. Unbelievable!!

The Republicans had no problem throwing their own under the bus when appropriate. Yeah, they served time and deserved it! You defend the likes of Kimber? What ... hypocrisy!

Posted by: DISTRESSED | November 18, 2009 10:44 PM

Had Boysie Kimber not been one of the Mayor's henchmen all of these years, he would not have been allowed to carry on the shenanigans he has carried on over the years. He has often been involved in shady deals, but he gets away with them. To call himself a man of God, but for him to be the leader of a church is an insult to real christians. Why are ministers allowed to live free of paying taxes anyway? Whatever happened to separation of church and state? What about a conscience? This man lives off the people and he is more wealthy than those who support him.

It is sheer dishonesty and collusion against the tax payers of NH that this man has been allowed to flip this house back & forth to get out of paying taxes. Yet, regular citizens cannot even come to NH to shop for fear of getting their cars towed. We no longer come and eat in NH because parking is such a BIG problem. Yet, people like Kimber gets away with flaunting his dishonesty. How many poor people in NH can get a break on their taxes?

Posted by: Newhallville Resident | November 20, 2009 12:30 PM

This article leads you to believe that the reporter is adressing foreclosures in the Newhallville area but it seems to just be another Rev. Kimber bashing. Rev. kimber is not the only person or Pastor within the city of New Haven with debt issues. Just because he is a Preacher does not make him unhuman. Rev. Kimber has done a lot for this community and city but those things are never written up or covered in the papers or the news. When he is organizing food drives and giving food to the hungry on Thanksgiving or giving clothes and toys including bikes at Christmas time where are the reporters then? When he is going into the school system to sit with single mothers who are having difficulties with their childs learning, where are the reporters then? Melissa Baily, how about writing something positive about the Rev. Dr. Boise Kimber sometimes? Everyone, myself included has debt and money issues at this time with the way the economy is. But would you want your personal financial information spread to the public? I know that I wouldnt. This story could have been less biased against Rev. Kimber and more pro regarding how to help this community from losing so many houses.

Posted by: James | November 21, 2009 5:04 AM

Just learn how to manage your own finances and pay off debts without spending more money on another company who is supposed to do what people need to do for themselves.

Posted by: ricc1005 | November 22, 2009 1:11 PM

That was my grandmother the rev stole from she prepaid her funeral and this thief stole her money, she was elderly and on ss, ... my grandmother grew up in ashmun st projects and was a hard worker her whole life paid taxes, paid for her funeral and this ...stole her money, that to me is despicable they should have lock his no good... away where he belonged, If this was your grandmother how would you feel ...?

Posted by: Willie Williams Jr | December 26, 2009 2:43 PM

I'm Seeing How "GOD" Works In Strange Ways
Credit Correction Kit http://directmatches.com/profiles/willie576
Having A Masters Degree Does Not Make You Smarter or Intelligent!. Why Don't They Ask "GOD" For Money. The Free Ride and Gravy Train Is Over.

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