I then went to the head office of the Bank of America on Market and Powell which was called at that time the Day and Night Branch. There I met with one of the vice-presidents whom I knew well, a Mr. Hogan. I explained to him that I represented the Greek Church on Valencia Street. I told him that we were sorry that we could not meet our obligation on the loan. I told him that I didn't want to give him any more false promises. I said that the church has been in arrears for years and would continue to be unable to perform.

He was astounded and he came back at me and said, "Mr. Boudoures, I'm surprised at you. Don't you think the Greek people of San Francisco have some moral responsibility toward the bank? The money that we loaned to them is not ours. It belongs to the depositors. If each time we loan money we get this kind of answer, this bank cannot stay in business."

I then responded by telling him that I disagreed with him. It was their responsibility to be careful how they loaned their money in order to stay in business.

I told him that before the bank made the loan, the property was appraised to insure that it was worth more than the loan amount. The Greek Community had no moral responsibility for the loan. The loan was not guaranteed by the Greeks. It was secured by the property on Valencia Street. I then told him, "Well, it seems to me that for the last two years your bank and every other bank in San Francisco, has been calling loans and foreclosing on homes and farms and putting people out. The church is not different. We cannot pay something when we haven't got the money. We don't know how we can raise it. Nobody likes to pour good money after bad."

I further told him, "The bank has some moral responsibility to the Greeks. They invested millions of dollars in your stock and it dropped down from $285.00 to $25.00 and they lost everything they had. You return and give them the money that they lost and we'll pay you two dollars for every dollar we owe you." He realized that he was in a vulnerable position. He could not do anything more at that time and he decided to take it up with the finance committee.

(Editors note: In mid 1929 two Greek-American stock salesmen, who also happened to own the Prometheus Greek language newspaper, went around to the various Greek business owners and encouraged them to buy stock. Alexander Pavellas and George Papageorge-Palladios got scores of Greek businessmen to invest in the stock market, usually on margin. They would pay ten percent down and put up their homes or businesses as collateral. When the crash came in late 1929 many of them lost their homes, their businesses, everything. Bank of Italy stock was one of the investor's favorites.)

I went back and related the story to the members of the church. Later we received notice that the bank was going to foreclose in ninety days. A public sale was held on the front steps of the Polk Street side of the City Hall. The St. Sophia Church was sold in auction. No one was there to bid except the Capital Corporation, which was a subsidiary of the Bank of America. They bid $22,000.00.

(Editors note: The foreclosure sale was on the first mortgage held by the bank. The second mortgage of about $25,000 was held by Christos Catharios and a Mr. Dravilas. They were leaders of the St. Sophia community and two of the few Greek-Americans to do well, financially, during the Great Depression. At the request of the parish council they had advanced money to the church to keep its doors open. When the bank foreclosed on the first mortgage, it wiped out their second mortgage.)

As soon as I learned of the foreclosure I went back to the very same vice-president and told him that we were desirous of renting the church. We wanted to continue services 'til such time as we could either find enough money to purchase the building from the bank or find other quarters to move the church. He asked me how much rent we could pay and I told him one hundred dollars a month. I explained to him that this was the maximum that we could pay and that we'd still have a tough time paying it. I personally guaranteed that on the first of each month the bank would receive church's payment, until such time as a decision was made where the next church would be.

The bank accepted the agreement and so did the church. Not knowing where the money would come from, we then started a drive to raise money for the purpose of purchasing a church. We had raised about four to five thousand dollars when things began to happen at the other Greek Church, the Holy Trinity.