Jury Trial Allowed for Peachtree-Pine Foreclosure Sale Case

The Georgia Supreme Court has permitted a jury trial to determine whether the City of Atlanta illegally sold the building which housed the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter in Midtown.

The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which has operated the shelter for approximately 15 years, defaulted on a $900,000 loan in 2010 and has been staving off eviction proceedings ever since.

The task force will get a reprieve from its struggle, as the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that no eviction proceedings can take place until the matter is fully litigated, Atlanta Business Chronicle says.

Lawyers for the task force argue that powerful business interests have conspired to stifle the flow of donations to bankrupt the shelter and drive the homeless from the area, WABE reported in June.

The building was bought out of foreclosure in 2011, and lawyers for the building’s new owner and Central Atlanta Progress argue that the task force has neglected its finances for years and has misspent donor funds, WABE said. Money provided by Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy meant for a new kitchen was used for other purposes, causing Cathy to stop donating to the shelter.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Cathy’s decision to stop donating to the shelter was allowable, stating that ”a charitable donor has no obligation to bestow a gift,” the Chronicle says.

In August, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed sought to seize the shelter through the use of eminent domain after the CDC informed him that the shelter was the source of a nationwide tuberculosis outbreak.