The Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., senior pastor of a megachurch and a candidate for Detroit mayor, quietly lived in a $1.3 million home in the far-flung suburbs for most of the past 12 years.
Now records shared with Metro Times raise serious questions about how he acquired the opulent home, his church’s central role in the purchase, and his lavish lifestyle.
During the campaign, Kinloch has highlighted his position as senior pastor of Triumph Church, which has more than 40,000 members and seven locations, including two in Detroit with long-delinquent water bills.
Triumph Church bought the 5,177-square-foot house in Oakland Township in April 2013 for $841,600, financing the purchase with a $631,200 mortgage, which Kinloch signed on behalf of the church, according to the deed and mortgage records. That left roughly $210,000 to be covered in cash.
Nine months later, in January 2014, the church sold the property to Kinloch for the same price, and he also financed his purchase with a $631,200 mortgage, leaving $210,000 to be paid in advance, according to deeds and mortgage records. Triumph Church officials declined to say who paid the remaining $210,000 when Kinloch acquired the house.
State law requires nonprofit officers to act in the church’s best interests and scrutinize insider transactions. Federal tax law forbids “private inurement,” or unreasonable personal benefits to insiders.
In the same month they bought the house, Kinloch and his wife Robin Kinloch secured another $84,000 mortgage for the home, records show. Then in March 2023, the Kinlochs opened a $725,000 revolving-credit mortgage.
In 2016, two years after Triumph Church sold the house to Kinloch, its church on Joy Road in Detroit began falling behind on its water bills. The delinquency reached more than $60,000 in 2020.
Metro Times obtained the deeds and mortgage records from Highland Park activist Robert Davis, who on Thursday requested an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. Davis points out that state law allows a church to buy a house for the pastor to live in, but the church must remain the owner.
Davis also alleges that the sale to Kinloch and the subsequent mortgages amounted to an unlawful inurement because a tax-exempt group — the church — improperly gave a private financial benefit to an insider — Kinloch.
“As evidenced by the number of personal loans and mortgages Solomon Kinloch Jr. and his wife, have been able to procure and secure as a result of their personal ownership of the home located at 5629 Mystic Lane in Oakland Township, Solomon Kinloch Jr. has substantially benefited financially from Triumph Church’s sale of the Oakland Township property home to him,” Davis wrote in the complaint. “Solomon Kinloch Jr.’s and Triumph Church’s unlawful real estate transactions have now put Triumph Church’s 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in serious jeopardy.”
Davis also questions how Kinloch managed to secure three mortgages that together exceed the value of the home. Davis argues the $725,000 revolving-credit line appears out of step with typical loan-to-value (LTV) limits. Using the $1.3 market value and an assumed $450,000 balance on the 2014 mortgage, Davis said an 80% combined LTV would cap available credit near $558,000, or about $200,000 less than the recorded credit limit. Davis points to Bankrate, which says “homeowners can never borrow the full amount of their equity – they must leave around 20% of it in the home.”
The Kinlochs secured the revolving-credit mortgage through Community Financial in Plymouth, which did not respond to Metro Times’s questions about the loan.
Metro Times asked the Kinloch campaign and church leaders about the sale and mortgages, but they would not answer most questions.
It’s also unclear if Kinloch notified the lenders that he had multiple liens against him. Between 2006 and 2022, at least nine liens were placed against Kinloch, most of which were for delinquent taxes. Those liens totaled more than $168,000, according to The Detroit News in February.
That matters because lenders and federal law typically require borrowers to disclose liens. Mortgage applicants must list debts and judgments on the loan applications, and making false statements to a bank to secure money from a lender is a federal crime.
Dan Lijana, spokesman for Kinloch’s campaign, noted that banks search for liens, and if there were any, “the purchase would not have been completed.” But public records show that Kinloch had five liens for delinquent state income taxes, totalling more than $53,000, from 2011 to 2022.
Dora Brown, who is the church’s chief financial officer, appears on the warranty deed for the house, but she didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Davis says the house and the questionable financial transactions are important to the race because Kinloch often refers to his leadership of the church on the campaign trail. He says the pattern of debt and transactions raises serious questions about transparency and accountability.
“He’s made the church a centerpiece of this campaign,” Davis says. “He also said he would continue to serve as the senior pastor while serving as mayor. His track record as the head of that church is relevant. So all the business dealings and transactions are relevant. He’s made them relevant.”
For most of the past three decades, Kinloch has lived in Oakland County. In March 2024, he registered to vote in Detroit and moved into a downtown condo with his brother, Wayne County Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch. He later relocated to another apartment in the same complex in the Greektown area, where he says he now lives.
Kinloch finished second in the August primary with 17.4% of the vote, far behind Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, who won with 50.8%. Sheffield and Kinloch advanced to the general election on Nov. 4.
Sheffield has also nearly doubled Kinloch’s fundraising. Between July 21 and Aug. 25, she raised more than $206,000, compared to his $116,000.
The home purchase and mortgages are the latest controversy dogging Kinloch’s campaign. In late July, the Detroit Free Press reported that Kinloch pleaded guilty to assaulting his first wife after threatening her with a butcher knife and beating her with its handle, according to police.
While his campaign and church leaders dodged many questions, Lijana said the focus should be on affordable housing in Detroit.
“If we want to talk about housing in this race, let’s talk about the housing affordability crisis that’s exploded over the last 12 years in Detroit or the poverty rate, the highest it’s been since 2017.”
In his complaint to authorities, Davis said he hopes legal action is taken against Kinloch and the church.
“I pray that both the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office open independent investigations to determine whether Solomon Kinloch Jr.’s and Triumph Church’s suspicious and questionable real estate transaction pertaining to the home located at 5629 Mystic Lane in Oakland Township, MI violated any applicable civil and/or penal laws codified in the State of Michigan or the IRS Code governing 501(c)(3) tax-exempt church and religious organizations,” Davis wrote.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office confirmed it received Davis’s complaint but declined to comment “at this time.”
Metro Times is awaiting a response from the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
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