Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I am a member of a church, and it is beginning to look like our church will be going through a hostile takeover if we do not take proper measures. Over a year ago, certain members of the church were excommunicated by the board due to inappropriate behavior. Some of those excommunicated were former board members and directors of the church. The current board members were voted for and by the current congregation of the church with the CEO remaining the same. In the last year, the former members took to many extreme measures as a form of retailiation. However, in this last incident, under the direction of their attorney, they went onto the CA Secretary of State website and re-filed a Statement of Information, changing all the names to their own names. They then hired armed security guards and changed all the locks to the church building. When the police was called, the police honored the most recent filing with the Secretary of State, so now we have been locked out of the church premises for the last two weeks. We tried to get a restraining order from a judge, but due to insufficient infomration, the case was rescheduled for a future date. In the meantime, we have to assume that they are destroying any sensitive documents within the church that would prove their claims to be fraudulent. What we know is that they are trying to establish that their group is the true church organization that is operating out of that building. What legal measures can we take to prevent this takeover from happening?
3 Answers from Attorneys
"Beginning to look like...a hostile takeover"? It has already happened.
I am not in the slightest way being humorous or insulting when I say that no amount of free 'tips and hints' from here or anywhere else are going to effectively help you in this The only worthwhile advice is to hire an attorney to represent you as best as possible now. You've got a serious and involved situation that will be difficult and expensive to resolve in court, if at all. Christian mediation is an alternative to consider. If serious about hiring counsel, feel free to contact me to arrange a meeting.
If you do not have sufficient information to persuade a judge that the current board is the true and correct board of the church, and if no copies of church records were kept off-site, I'm not sure there is anything you can do. If the only evidence of who is the true board is the SoS filing, then that is what the law must follow.
If a majority of the church members support your group, if your bylaw permit it, why not schedule a new election to re-install your group. Or at least have a membership wide meeting for all sides to present their case and have those present indicate who they support. No matter what yo do legally, it will not solve the problem of the hostile split that has already occurred.
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