Gmail Seth Frey <moctodliamg@gmail.com>

BCL 1023 materials ready

Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu> Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 11:09 AM
To: David Zuckerman <dhz4488@umd.edu>

seth.

Graduate Student, Cognitive Science and Complex Systems, Indiana University
–– http://enfascination.com –– http://bloomingtoncoop.org ––



Forwarded conversation
Subject: BCL 1023 materials ready
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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:52 PM
To: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>
Cc: bloomingtoncoop@gmail.com

[Quoted text hidden]
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From: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>
Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 2:16 PM
To: sethfrey@indiana.edu


Hi Seth:
 
First, of course you can call me Rosebud. 
 
I did get the retainer.  Thank you.
 
I'm into dropbox and after a little fidling it seems to be working fine.
 
I'll be reviewing everything today and tomorrow and then get back to you.
 
Bye for now, Rosebud
 
 
 
 
>>> Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu> 02/02/10 09:52PM >>>

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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 11:27 PM
To: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>


Great news.  Two updates:
* Got official stamps and notification from the state about our
articles of amendment with all of the IRS language that wasn't in
there yet.  We scanned and uploaded the final document as
AAE1023_PartIIQ1_ArticlesOfAmendment2.pdf  (and removed Incomplete
from the end)
* Minor: I made a change to the main form, I just added security
deposits as an "other liability" to our balance sheet in Section IX
and added a really short itemized list as a new file at the bottom.

Best,
-seth

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From: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>
Date: Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:12 PM
To: sethfrey@indiana.edu


Hi Seth:
 
So here's my review thus far.  Also the 2848 is attached.  You will need to fill out Section 1, and then sign it at section 9 on the second page.  Just ignore the PIN number thing.
 
First, the By Laws need some adjustment.  Section 3.1 still says that every member of the Coop becomes a member of the Board.  The Articles state it correctly, but they also say that the details are stated in the By Laws, and then the By Laws say the wrong thing.  So, that needs to be fixed to match the plan currently stated in the Articles.
 
I will note that it seems that the large house has a master lease, and each individual then rents from the Coop, but in the smaller house, the Coop appears to have no legal role.  There is no agreement which mentions the Coop.  Is this right, or is there something with that landlord that references the coop?  I'm not sure it really matters too much.  I think that perhaps you could say that, "at this time we are working on getting the landlord to agree to a master lease, but that is still in negotiation."  Or something like that.
 
You asked some specific questions:
 
You asked about how to answer Part IV Question 2, but you must have really meant Part VI Question 2.  I too had a comment about the answer there.  That is the question about whether you put limitations upon who may receive your services.  Your answer does properly say that YES you do limit who can get your services.  However, in your narrative answer all you say is that it is limited to your members.  Change this answer so that you are not thinking about the current members get services, but more think about who could be a member.  So your answer would instead be focused upon, "the only people who can get our services are people who fall into the required low income categories ....."  You limit who can get your services in that way.  That changes it from, "our services benefit our own members," to "our services benefit the low income members of our community ..." but sadly enough we can only help as many people as we have bedrooms at any given time.  With that sort of change to the attached answer to this question you have it right.
 
In terms of the Part 7, question 2, related to the 26 month thing, you did everything right.  You DO NEED to  also include, with your final submission, the first page of a 501c4 application.  That form is called a 1024.  You will see that the form is essentially identical to the 1023, so it will be easy to fill out.
 
In Part X you said Not a Foundation, but rather a Public Charity - that's correct.  And you checked "h," which also is correct.
 
There is no longer any such thing as advanced rulings, but they have not changed the form to get rid of that.  So all applications are now for definitive rulings.  That requires also filling out the bottom of page 11, and you did that and you did it correctly.
 
Whether you will need to pay $750 or $300 depends upon whether your gross "income" is over $10,000.00 per year.  Since I don't have your financials, I don't know.  But that's what determines it.
 
You can be low income housing, pursuant to IRS review, and have nothing to do with HUD what so ever.  That is just fine. 
 
Then on to the 1023 itself.
 
What you sent me had no answers in Part I sections 1 - 6.  Of course you need to fill all that in. Also the answer to section 11 about date of incorporation. 
Then Part III, questions 1 and 2b, you need to insert the section references for the recent amendment to the Articles.  
Part V, section 1a, you either need to insert the information (which I saw you already have in an attachment) or insert "see attachment."   Part V, sections b and c, you need to say "none." 
Then Part V section 8, it asks, do you have any leases or contracts with officers or directors.  You said NO but the answer is YES.  Each one of them is an occupant and has an occupancy agreement.  So you need to say so.   But also make a big point of saying that the terms applicable to them, are the same as for any other member, and the qualifications  for admission applied to them, are identical to those applicable to any member of the public. 
Section IX.  You posted something on Drop box as a txt file, but I couldn't open it, or rather all I got was a one sentence title for the document, and not the document itself.  You need to fill out both A and B.  Remember that in A the "rent" paid by members should be listed in line 2 for membership fees. 
 
Only other little point is that I would suggest adding a reference into the Narrative to note the other items which you are including which say a lot about what you do.  Your Narrative is pretty short.  However, other info you are including says plenty.  So maybe just add something like, "also make sure to look at X, Y & Z which are also attached."  Or something like that.
 
Finally, just thinking ahead here.  Are you going to send in everything once its ready or were you hoping I would do that.  Either way works.  I typically write a short cover letter trying to argue in favor of exemption.  So, if you are going to mail it in, then I'll do that and send it to you to include in the submission.  If I am mailing it in, then I won't send it to you in advance, but rather as part of the copy of the full submission, when that gets mailed in.
 
So, there you go for now.  Very very close to being ready.  Good job.  Looks good to me.
 
 
 
>>> Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu> 02/04/10 10:27PM >>>

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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:28 PM
To: Lydia Comer <lydiaacomer@gmail.com>, devin mawdsley <dcmawd@gmail.com>, Elliott Hayden <elliot.hayden.722@gmail.com>


Feb work.  I haven't looked at everything.  I think it will mostly be
easy, but a little slow, especially if it is just me.  Who of you can
sit down and do a less intense, less long thing similar to last time?
In next week or two weeks?
-seth

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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 12:57 PM
To: Lydia Comer <lydiaacomer@gmail.com>, devin mawdsley <dcmawd@gmail.com>, Elliott Hayden <elliot.hayden.722@gmail.com>


here it is

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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 1:02 PM
To: Lydia Comer <lydiaacomer@gmail.com>



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From: Seth Frey <sethfrey@indiana.edu>
Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 4:18 PM
To: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>
Cc: Bloomington Coop <bloomingtoncoop@gmail.com>

[Quoted text hidden]
I wasn't sure what you meant.  The line here is very short, so all I
did was change the text for Q1 to "Article 1, Section 3" to "Article
1, Section 3, amended" .  For Q2b, we never amended the dissolution
clause, so we can still refer them to the original articles.

-seth

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From: David Sparer <sparer@herricklaw.net>
Date: Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 4:23 PM
To: sethfrey@indiana.edu


I am on vacation until 2/25/10.  I will get back to you after I return
to work.  If you need immediate assistance call my support staff (at
257-1369) and check on which of my partners can help you in my absence.
Thanks.

>>> sethfrey 02/14/10 15:18 >>>



2848.pdf
92K