Seeking to reorganize mounting debt and avoid yet another looming foreclosure, the board of directors of longtime Lower Eastside community center La Casa de la Raza filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday.
In September of last year, Santa Barbara attorney and original La Casa cofounder Tomas Castelo purchased the community center’s loan note from Fidelity Mortgage Lenders, which had threatened foreclosure last summer after La Casa failed to make numerous payments.
Castelo said he attempted to work with the board to make the nonprofit more fiscally responsible but was met with resistance, especially when he asked that the board open up its bookkeeping records and reveal any silent lenders who may have helped La Casa in the past.