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Content: It declared that civil and ecclesiastical corporations,
      such as the Catholic church and local and state governments, would be prohibited
      from owning real property not directly used in everyday operations. The
      church could retain its sanctuaries, monasteries, convents, and seminaries,
      and local and state governments their offices, jails, and schools,
      but both had to sell all other urban and rural real estate. Tenants were
      given preference during the first three months the law would be in effect,
      and the annual rent was considered as 6 percent of the value of the property
      for sale. The government would collect a 5 percent tax on these sales. The law prohibited civil and ecclesiastical corporations from acquiring
      property in the future, but it did not confiscate their wealth. Intended
      to raise revenue and promote the development of markets, its actual effects
      on properly ownership are disputed, but it seems to have raised little
      revenue for the government. The Ley Lerdo was adopted as part of the Constitution
      of 1857. It was later superseded by decrees confiscating church property. LEY IGLESIAS, a Mexican law regulating the cost of church sacraments,
      named for Jose Maria IGLESIAS, its principal author. The law was
      promulgated 11 April 1857, while its author was minister of justice
      under President
      Ignacio COMONFORT.