Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, Inc., a shelter for domestic violence victims, faces a foreclosure lawsuit filed on October 5 that asks for the public auction of its Santurce headquarters if it cannot pay a consolidated debt of $232,449.89. The nonprofit has operated since 1979 as the first organization in Puerto Rico and Latin America dedicated to offering shelter and comprehensive support to women survivors of domestic violence and their daughters and sons.
It also offers programs in the west and south of the island. According to the complaint, the loans originated in 1996 with the now-defunct Doral Federal Savings Bank. After that institution was dissolved, the debt is now held by the plaintiff, Bautista REO PR Corp. The promissory notes were secured by two mortgage liens in 2014.
The complaint, filed in the San Juan Court of First Instance, states: "Bautista’s collection efforts with the Defendants have been fruitless." It adds that Bautista respectfully asks the court to order the foreclosure of the mortgages securing the defendants’ payment obligations under the Mortgage Notes and the Loan Agreement, and the subsequent public auction of the property that secures them.