San Francisco Church Feuds With Charity Affiliate Over Housing

San Francisco officials have weighed in on a showdown between a city church and a nonprofit it founded to manage a low-income housing development, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Third Baptist Church filed suit last month against Third Baptist Gardens, alleging that the charity the church established in 1969 is illegally trying to sell the Frederick Douglas Haynes Gardens apartment complex for a $40-million profit and displace subsidized renters.

San Francisco’s city attorney and the head of the mayor’s housing office sent a letter to Third Baptist Gardens last week citing regulatory violations in connection with the planned sale and demanding that it be suspended. Third Baptist Church alleges that the nonprofit contravened its mission, sought to change its bylaws, and shielded its finances from the church in attempting to sell the complex — which is 80-percent occupied by Section 8 tenants — and charge market rents.