Please help me very important

[Todd Findley]

What is the name of your state? florida

Hello about 6 months ago I paid to be incorporated and thought that I was also going to be a legal 501 c 3, the company that did all our paperwork never really told me that we were not a legal non profit infact the state of florida told us we could not solicate for funds until we got the proper paperwork from the us treasury department worked out first.

Well for 6 months I was running a program similar to habitat for humanity thinking that we were a non profit and collecting downpayments on homes that would be built by the familys that signed up for the program.

Now my problem is how can my corporation still run this type of business and do it legally? I am taking off the 501 c 3 from all our websites and stationary so as not to confuse anyone.

Now is it legal for me to offer people a chance to sign up for our housing program where they help each other build each others homes still?

We were collecting 2500 dollars per family and pooling the funds to buy land, building materials, permits, sub contractors and to pay my salary as well, is there a way to reprhase what we are doing to make this legal.

The media is all over me for this and I want to make this work as its a very worthy cause to help low to middle income families own there own house.

Im begging for help here in florida please I dont want to give up im not a quitter thats why im here so if you can help please email or leave a post here.

Sincerly
Todd M. Findley

 

[chrissie]

I don't know what the U.S. Treasury has to do with it, first of all. Non-profits are formed at the state level, and the recognition as a 501(c)3 comes from the IRS.

When you say you are not "a legal non-profit", are you saying that you simply don't have the 501(c)3 status, or are you saying that your entity was formed in Florida as a for-profit corporation as opposed to a non-profit corporation? You can find out based on what type of Articles of Incorporation were filed.

If you were formed as a for-profit corp, you will want to go ahead and form a non-profit corp in Florida. However, I suspect that you were formed as a non-profit in Florida, but the incorporation services company just doesn't do the IRS 501(c)3 status filings.

The laws of the State of Florida require charitable organizations or sponsors intending to solicit contributions from the public in the state of Florida to register annually with the Division of Consumer Services. So, if you are already formed as a non-profit in Florida, this would be your critical next step to make things right. You can call the Division of Consumer Services at (850) 488-2221 or 1-800-435-7352.

Obtaining 501(c)3 status simply gives your organization recognition from the IRS as a non-profit for the purposes of being exempt from federal taxes. To obtain this status, usually you must file Form 1023 with the IRS within 15 months of the corporation's creation. However, there is a separate deadline for a gross receipts threshold. In your case, Once you have exceeded the gross receipts threshold of $5,000 (which is probably the case with you), you have until 90 days of the end of the year in which it exceeds the gross receipts threshold to file Form 1023. It sounds like you are well within the time frame to file. An organization that files its application before the deadline will be recognized as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code from the date of its creation.

Until your 501(c)3 status comes through and assuming your other ducks are in a row, it would be an honest statement to say that you are a Florida non-profit corporation, registered with the Division of Consumer Services. [501(c)3 status pending.]

If the incorporation services company said yes, they will form a non-profit in Florida and did, then the worst to be said is that they didn't make it clear to you about the difference between a non-profit corporation and obtaining 501(c)3 status, because it's easy to mistake one for the other.

BUT, if they either a) explicitly told you they'd file to obtain 501(c)3 status with the IRS or b) told you they'd form a non-profit corporation but turned around and filed Articles of Incorporation for a for-profit corporation instead, then perhaps the real story the media should be focusing on is their faux-pas. And if you paid for Articles for a non-profit to be filed and didn't get that, then you could be due a refund.

 

[Todd Findley]

Thank You

Thank you very much for that info, we are a state of florida incorporated non profit and yes this means that we are now waiting on the 501 (c) (3) status.

I am calling the florida department you gave the phone number for to see which way we can go to start solication for funds but the last time they sent me a letter stating that we had to file with the irs to solicate for funds in the state of florida.

We have another question for your if its ok. We are running a program similar to habitat for humanity and we just cant stop and wait for the irs to issue us a 501 (c)(3) but we will be getting this asap, my question is can we still operate by putting ads in paper and gathering families to all pool in there downpayments to buy lots and building material so they can continue to help each other build each others homes.

We basically act as a place where the families gather, we hire the contractors for them, they pull all permits in there own names as owner builders and basically we guide them through the building process. We do hold a mortage at the end when the house is built to cover our costs and we do not charge them any intrest rate.

Can we still operate in the state of florida this way or should we get a business license in every county in florida as a cunsulting firm or something, keeping in mind we incorporated in the state of florida as a non profit.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Todd M. Findley

 

[Todd Findley]

Hi another question for you , since we are putting ads in newspapers and in reality not asking for contributions but instead asking them to put in $2,500 as there down payment on there home wouldnt we be operating legally since we are not asking for contributions.

I think a contribution is like a donation for the purpose of giving and not receiving anything in return, where as asking someone to put money down and help put in 500 hours of labor to help build there house and other families homes is not the same as a contribution.

Im going to see my lawyer on monday so he can also guide us through this but you have been a great help already in helping us to understand what we are doing right and wrong.

Thanks
Todd M. Findley

 

[chrissie]

Hi Todd,

I'm glad I could be of help. The whole issue of what are contributions and what aren't is fuzzy, so I am glad that you will be meeting with your attorney. It requires an answer that you'd really want the attorney to narrow in on.

Again, I would say that the 501(c)3 is going to give you tax-exempt status and the ability to accept tax-deductible, charitable contributions. But you want to be certain that you are in compliance with state laws in collecting funds. When you talk to the lawyer, make sure you go over the method by which you collect down payments and hold mortgages to make sure everything's done correctly--cover all bases.

Good luck!