KLUP SABJ News Feature 3/19/08 Habitat For Humanity House Divided

Habitat for Humanity is a house divided in the courts. John Thurman of Heart of Texas Realty here with today's San Antonio Business Journal News Feature. Business Journal writer, Tricia Lynn Silva reported that a legal dispute among affiliated nonprofit groups could threaten the future of one of the city's most recognized names in low-income housing. Earlier this year, Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio Inc. filed a civil lawsuit in federal court here against its parent organization, Americus, Ga.-based Habitat for Humanity International Inc. At the core of the litigation is a proposed affiliation agreement being advanced by the parent organization regarding the governance of its more than 1,700 affiliates throughout the country. Habitat San Antonio, however, chose instead to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Antonio against Habitat International on Jan. 4 -- just days after the Dec. 31, 2007, deadline for inking the pact. "We feel decisions regarding funding and families can best be made at the local, grassroots level," Wiese says. "Habitat for Humanity has always been a movement. It was not intended to be a franchise." For San Antonio area homes and real estate Deep in the Heart of Texas, call John Thurman of HeartofTexasRealty.com