Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity
From: melanie griffin (melgrifgmail.com)
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 05:38:34 -0700 (PDT)
from the Department of Justice's website:

*Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Religion*

 The Fair Housing Act
<http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/title8.htm>prohibits discrimination
in housing based upon religion. This prohibition
covers instances of overt discrimination against members of a particular
religion as well less direct actions, such as zoning ordinances designed to
limit the use of private homes as a places of worship. The number of cases
filed since 1968 alleging religious discrimination is small in comparison to
some of the other prohibited bases, such as
race<http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/housing_coverage.htm#race>or
national
origin <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/housing/housing_coverage.htm#nat>.

The Act does contain a limited exception that allows non-commercial housing
operated by a religious organization to reserve such housing to persons of
the same religion.

Here's the text of the exemption:

*Sec. 807. [42 U.S.C. 3607] Religious organization or private club exemption
*
(a) Nothing in this subchapter shall prohibit a religious organization,
association, or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization
operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious
organization, association, or society, from limiting the sale, rental or
occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial
purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such
persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of
race, color, or national origin. Nor shall anything in this subchapter
prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as an incident
to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings which it owns or
operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or
occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its
members.


I'm not a housing lawyer, and you should probably consult with DOJ or
somebody who specializes in that kind of law before you proceed to write the
restrictions into any bylaws or deeds, but it sounds like you could craft
language that describes your relationship with the church that would bring
you within the exemption.

Melanie


On Sun, Apr 6, 2008 at 4:30 PM, Joan Sarin <mnjsarin91 [at] cox.net> wrote:

>
> Hi Co-Housing members,
>
> We are a forming intentional community of individuals who share a
> spiritual
> path.  We will not discriminate on any other basis, but only those who are
> members of a specific religion will be considered.  How do you manage this
> with Fair Housing/Equal Opportunity Housing?
>
> PS We hope to create an LLC that owns the overall property, with
> individuals
> holding shares equivalent to their units' value, thus keeping equity but
> allowing the community to decide who the unit goes to when members leave.
> It will not be non-profit (at least we don't think at this time), and we
> do
> not intend to have any collective business.  We'd like to hear from
> similar
> communities who have faced this legal challenge.  We know there has to be
> a
> way!  If you can refer us to an attorney who is knowledgeable in this
> area,
> we would appreciate it.
>
> Thanks,
> Joan Sarin
>
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