Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: CoHousing Journal

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

Don Lindeman asked in his introductory post:

> Anybody want to propose an  article?  Issues in the coming year will 
probably >address  recruitment/marketing, legal/financial structures 
and site design -- we're
>still wrestling with possibilities for the upcoming fall issue.

I think it would be of great value to get a solid coverage on the topic 
of partnerships and incorporation, and specifically what are the 
mechanisms groups should use for collecting development funds, what are 
the things to be careful about, what are the tax ramifications, etc.  
There was an excellent series of articles in Growing Community 
newsletter about this topic which could be condensed into information 
relevant to cohousing.  What is a partnership and how do you create it? 
 What are the advantages of a partnership.  What about incorporation 
and what are the advantages of  partnerships vs. corporations?  What 
kinds of things need to be in a partnership, examples of agreements 
groups have used, what kind of things need to be in receipts, what kind 
of records need to be kept and what form do they need to be in.  What 
is the most effective way to use an attorney to draw up legal 
agreements. Reading list of good books and information on this topic. ( 
A general critique of Cohousing magazine is that it needs more 
references included with feature articles.)

Granted, many of the particulars of partnerships and incorporation are 
governed by state laws but there are a fair number of good general 
principles which are important.

Another bit of good information would be dealing with banks.  How do 
banks operate, what kinds of things do they care about, when should you 
contact banks about the project, What is FNMA and why are they 
important, What issues are important to have in your legal definitions, 
What can a group do to make their bank application a success, how do 
you get a good deal on interest and other fees, what are alternative 
sources to commercial banks. What are strategies existing groups have 
used to get bank funding, lists of banks which have funded cohousing 
which could be used for references, reading list of good books and 
information on this topic.