§ 3-a. (enacted without section heading). A subordinate lodge, chapter, post, council, commandery, temple, court or other organization entitled to file a certificate of election of trustees under § 2 of the benevolent orders law shall, while the warrant or charter for said lodge, chapter, post, council, commandery, temple, court or other organization, is in force so as to entitle it to operate as a subordinate body of the grand lodge or other grand body under whose jurisdiction it operates, be deemed to be a corporate entity for the purpose of making contracts, incurring liabilities, and acquiring rights, and of suing and being sued in the courts of this state in its own name, but may not take, hold, lease, mortgage, convey or otherwise dispose of real property unless it shall have filed the certificate required by § 2 of the benevolent orders law. In the absence of fraud or bad faith, the members, officers and trustees of a lodge, chapter, post, council, commandery, temple, court or other organization, enumerated in § 2 of the benevolent orders law, shall not be personally liable for its debts, obligations or liabilities.

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Terms Used In N.Y. Benevolent Orders Law 3-A

  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.