posted on Jul, 29 2010 @ 05:04 AM
It sounds like you're writing from the United States.
No, a mortgage holder doesn't own the property. It enjoys a lien on the property. Basically, you can't sell without paying the lien holder.
Depending on your agreement and the laws of the jurisdiction, there will be other rules that define the rights and obligations of the parties.
You still own the property, you have simply given somebody else some specific interests. If the premises are a dwelling place, then the mortgage
holder generally does not have the right to enter the premises uninvited and without a court order, for instance.
Even if that were not the case, the First Amendment guarantees that the federal government will not interfere with the free exercise of religion. So,
it really cannot force people to remove religious articles from their homes.
What complicates school administrators' religious expressions in the line of duty is that the same First Amendment (along with the Fourteenth)
forbids establishment, a tax supported religion. Schools are very tricky places, because young children may misunderstand adult actions as
endorsement, to name one reason.
In any case, students retain their own First Amendment right to religious free expression on school grounds, subject only to reasonable time, place,
and manner regulations. Those regulations must not be based on the expression being religious, but apply to everything similar. (A ban on wearing any
jewelry on chains in the machine shop is OK, but a ban on wearing crucifixes on chains is not OK.)
Freedom endures another day. There are other problems with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, of course.