HOA Opens Its Clubhouse to Secular Groups, but Closes Door on Bible Study: ACLJ Takes Action

Imagine living in a community where residents are encouraged to gather in the neighborhood clubhouse for group activities, games, hobbies, and other events, but are told they cannot gather there for one reason: Their meeting is religious. That is exactly the situation facing our client in Illinois.

After we were made aware of this egregious conduct, the ACLJ stepped in and fired off a demand letter to Carillon North Homeowners Association in Grayslake, Illinois, informing the HOA that prohibiting religious groups from using its clubhouse, including our client’s weekly Bible study, violates federal law.

Carillon promotes its clubhouse as a central gathering place where residents and their guests can meet and participate in various activities. Residents are encouraged to form groups and clubs to meet with like-minded residents in a variety of rooms around the clubhouse. In 2023, our client’s Bible study began meeting every Wednesday morning in the clubhouse. Our client and other residents would read and discuss Scripture, share prayer requests, and pray together.

This was not an unauthorized use of the clubhouse. Our client sought permission before the Bible study began meeting there and completed the HOA’s required reservation form each year to reserve the space. For more than two years, the Bible study met regularly with the HOA’s knowledge and approval. Then, in August 2026, the HOA abruptly changed course.

Following our client’s August 12 Bible study, HOA management explained that other residents wanted to use a clubhouse room for an annual Catholic Mass, but the HOA did not want to allow it. Management further explained that the HOA was concerned that allowing the Bible study to continue meeting in the clubhouse could be used to challenge a decision prohibiting the Catholic Mass. The HOA’s apparent solution was not to treat religious and nonreligious activities equally. Instead, the Board decided to ban all religious groups from using the clubhouse.

Our client was subsequently informed by the HOA’s president that it was the consensus of the Board “to not allow religious groups to meet in the clubhouse.” The Bible study has not met there since, and the gathering has been removed from the community activities calendar. Yet the clubhouse remains available for various secular activities.

Our demand letter lays out the clear law on this matter. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) makes it unlawful to discriminate because of religion in the “terms, conditions, or privileges” associated with a dwelling or in the provision of services or facilities connected with it. The Seventh Circuit, binding law in Illinois, has made clear that FHA protections “do not evaporate once a person takes possession of [their] house, condominium, or apartment.”

And this is not simply a question of whether the HOA treats one religion better than another.

First, Carillon banning religious groups from using a clubhouse is discriminatory on its face. In addition, as our demand letter explains, a policy does not become nondiscriminatory merely because it applies to all religious groups. The question is whether a housing-related privilege is being denied or limited because of religion while similarly situated secular residents remain able to enjoy that privilege.

That principle is reflected in another Seventh Circuit decision, which involved an association’s enforcement of its rules against a religious object while secular objects were permitted. The court explained that selectively applying a rule to prohibit a mezuzah while allowing comparable secular objects could support an inference of discriminatory intent.

Federal guidance is similarly straightforward. The U.S. Department of Justice has specifically explained that equal access to housing benefits means that someone cannot, “for example, be excluded from reserving a common room for a prayer meeting when that room may be reserved for comparable secular uses.”

This is not the first time the ACLJ has stepped in to vindicate the rights of HOA residents under the FHA. Just last year, we settled a federal lawsuit in Virginia, in which an HOA denied use of its clubhouse to religious groups. In addition, as we often see later in the year, apartment complexes and HOAs ban religious holiday decorations while permitting other decorations. The principle remains the same: If the HOA or complex bans religious holiday decorations while permitting other decorations, it violates the FHA.

Our demand letter calls for Carillon to cease discriminating on the basis of religion and provide written assurances that our client may once again reserve and use the clubhouse for his Bible study. If the HOA refuses to correct its policy, our client is prepared to vindicate his FHA rights in federal court.

The ACLJ will continue fighting to ensure HOAs and apartment complexes do not treat religious residents as second-class citizens. These residents deserve equal treatment without regard to their religion. If you are facing similar religious discrimination by an HOA, apartment complex, or other housing provider, contact us at ACLJ.org.

Take action with the ACLJ. Sign the petition: Defeat the Left’s War Against Christians.