Evicted Without Notice, Then a Disputed Deed: The Battle Over an East Flatbush Church Building

• Glory of God Global Ministry’s 200 worshippers were evicted from 5904 Foster Avenue in December 2022
• The building had been bought at a tax sale for $1.9 million by a family trust
• The owners accused Bishop Lamor Whitehead of filing a false deed claiming the property
• They sued for $3.5 million; Whitehead called the allegations “frivolous”

A congregation of about 200 people in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, lost its home and then found the building at the centre of a deed fraud lawsuit, THE CITY reported in May 2023, in a story republished by Patch.

Glory of God Global Ministry, led by Joseph Williams, had worshipped at 5904 Foster Avenue since 2014. In December 2022 the congregation was evicted with no notice, losing access to its belongings and suspending a weekly food pantry that served 200 families.

According to a lawsuit, the building had been bought at a tax sale in February 2022 for $1.9 million by a trust owned by Maryland residents Michael Moses and his sister Lydia. The Moseses alleged that in April 2023 Bishop Lamor Whitehead, leader of Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie, filed paperwork with the Office of the City Register claiming that he and his church owned the property. They said he never obtained financing to buy it and filed the deed “without the knowledge and or consent” of the trustee.

The owners sought $3.5 million in damages and asked the city to void the deed. Reached by phone, Whitehead called the allegations “frivolous” and declined further comment.

East Flatbush is one of New York’s most Caribbean neighbourhoods, and small congregations there often rent storefronts or buildings they do not own, leaving them exposed when a property changes hands. The case highlights two risks at once: a church that rents can lose its space overnight, and property records can be targeted by fraud. For Jamaican churches and diaspora property owners, the lesson is to hold a written lease or clear title, check the land register regularly, and act fast if anything unexpected is filed against a property.

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