Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
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 > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.7/1361 - Release Date: 4/5/2008 > 7:53 AM > > _________________________________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/ > > >
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Intentional Community seeks best legal entity Joan Sarin, April 6 2008
- Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity melanie griffin, April 7 2008
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Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity melanie griffin, April 7 2008
- Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity Rob Sandelin, April 7 2008
- Re: Intentional Community seeks best legal entity Raines Cohen, April 8 2008
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