A Fort Lauderdale condominium board has promised Attorney General Bill McCollum that it will allow residents to attach mezuzahs to the outside doorposts of their apartments.

The controversy began in December, when Laurie Richter, 28, rented an apartment in the Port Condominium, in the 1800 block of Southeast 17th Street. She said putting up a mezuzah, a small case containing a religious message, is what religious Jews are required to do.

But the board of the 129-unit building ordered her to remove it.

The board had a rule against attaching or affixing anything to the “exterior walls, doors, balconies, railings or windows of the building.” Although Richter said she didn’t know about the rule at the time, she saw Christmas wreaths on some doors. Alleging discrimination, she contacted McCollum and Miami-based U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta, who both got involved because of possible civil rights violations.

Allison K. Bethel, the chief of McCollum’s Office of Civil Rights, on March 12 demanded the condo board correct the problem. On March 26, the board agreed to let Richter have her mezuzah.

On March 29, Bethel requested the board change the rule by Thursday so everyone could have mezuzahs.

Sandi Copes, McCollum’s spokeswoman, said a letter signed for the board by manager Keith Mullarkey doesn’t say anything about changing rules but says existing regulations allow mezuzahs for residents who ask to have them. It also says the board will continue “to approve all such requests, doing otherwise would be discriminatory.”

The letter doesn’t respond to other issues raised by the attorney general, such as posting a notice in a common location to advise all residents that mezuzahs can be displayed.

“It doesn’t specifically address all our concerns, but we did get our top priority taken care of,” said Copes. “This allows her and all others to have mezuzahs. We’ll take a look at the other issues later.”

Richter said she isn’t happy that residents must seek the board’s approval for a mezuzah.

“Why should a Jewish person have to ask permission to put up a mezuzah?” she said. “It’s something a Jewish person is obligated to do when you move into a new home. What if there’s a waiting period before the board responds? Not putting it up violates your faith, and that’s discriminatory against a class of people.”

Information from: www.sun-sentinel.com

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