A US-Registered Church Went Back to Court Over Land in Clarendon. It Was Told to Put Up $4.5 Million First

• Two Mount Zion Apostolic churches claimed an interest in land at Belle Plain, Clarendon
• An earlier case had found the two defendants were the true owners
• One claimant church is incorporated in the United States
• The court ordered it to lodge $4.5 million security for costs

A dispute over the land under a church building and manse in Belle Plain, Clarendon, reached another stage in June 2016, when the Supreme Court ordered a US-incorporated church to lodge $4.5 million as security before it could continue its claim. The ruling, by Justice Lawrence-Beswick, is reported as [2016] JMSC Civ. 115.

The claimants were Mount Zion Apostolic Church of Jamaica Limited and Mount Zion Apostolic Church Incorporation, which the judgment describes as “incorporated in the United States of America”. They sought a declaration that they had a beneficial interest in land registered at Volume 564 Folio 34, along with an injunction to stop interference with their use of it. The defendants, Joycelyn Cash and Novia Duhaney, said an earlier case had already settled the question of ownership.

That earlier case had been brought by Stanley Taylor, described in the judgment as pastor and overseer of the Jamaican church, who said he had bought the land on the church’s behalf. The court in that case found that the defendants were “the legal and beneficial owners of the said land” and that Taylor held the legal interest as a constructive or resulting trustee. He was ordered to give up possession and his name was to be removed from the title. His appeal was dismissed in 2005 for want of prosecution.

When the churches returned to court, the defendants asked for security for costs of $4,573,000. Justice Lawrence-Beswick agreed that security was justified, noting that the second claimant “does not have any liquid assets within Jamaica”, that costs from related litigation were unpaid, and that the new claim concerned the same land and the same defendants. She ordered $4.5 million lodged within 42 days, with the claim stayed until then and dismissed if the money was not paid.

The case is a hard lesson for congregations with links abroad. Some Jamaican congregations are linked to overseas parent bodies, and property may be bought in the name of a pastor or trusted member. When that happens, the title may not say what the congregation believes, and years of litigation can follow. For diaspora-linked ministries, the safest course is to make sure land is transferred into the correct church entity at the time of purchase, with proper legal advice, rather than trying to fix ownership in court decades later.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com