§ 5-2-3 EXEMPTIONS.
   (A)   Nothing in § 5-2-1 or any other section shall apply to:
      (1)   Any unimproved lot or vacant land, or to any single family house sold or rented by an owner;
         (a)   Provided, that such private individual owner does not own more than three (3) such single-family houses at any one (1) time;
         (b)   Provided, further, that in the case of the sale of any such single-family house by a private individual owner not residing in such house at the time of such sale or who was not the most recent resident of such house prior to such sale, the exemption granted by this subsection shall apply only with respect to one (1) such sale within any twenty-four (24) month period;
         (c)   Provided further, that such bona fide private individual owner does not own any interest in, nor is there owned or reserved on his behalf, under any express or voluntary agreement, title to or any right to all or a portion of the proceeds from the sale or rental of more than three (3) such single family houses at any one (1) time;
         (d)   Provided further, the sale or rental of any such single family house shall be exempted from the application of this chapter only if such house is sold or rented:
            1.   Without the use in any manner of the sales or rental facilities or the sales or rental services of any real estate broker agent, or salesperson or of such facilities or services of any person in the business of selling or renting;
            2.   Without the publication, posting or mailing, after notice of any advertisement or written notice in violation of § 5-2-4(3);
         (e)   But nothing in this provision shall prohibit the use of attorneys, escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other such professional assistance to perfect or transfer the title, or
      (2)   Rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four (4) families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one (1) of such living quarters as his residence. For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be in the business of selling or renting dwellings if:
         (a)   He has, within the preceding twelve (12) months, participated as a principal in three (3) or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein;
         (b)   He has, within the preceding twelve (12) months participated as agent other than in the sale of his own personal residence in two (2) or more transactions involving the sale or rental of any dwelling or any interest therein; or
         (c)   He is the owner of any dwelling designed or intended for occupancy by or occupied by five (5) or more families.
   (B)   Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a religious organization, association or society, or any nonprofit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society, from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of dwellings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference to such persons, unless membership in such religion is restricted on account of race, color, sex, national origin, disability or HIV positive status. Nor shall anything in this chapter prohibit a private club not in fact open to the public, which as an incident to its primary purpose or purposes provides lodgings which it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of such lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members.