Re: Common House Use
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:17:44 -0800 (PST)

On Feb 22, 2007, at 8:00 AM, Dave and Diane wrote:

One member asked our insurance agent if asking for a donation made CH
use effectively into a "contract" and increased our exposure to liability.
The answer was yes, and we would be safer not to have any money change
hands. Then another member asked the same question (board changed) and the
answer was no, it doesn't affect our liability.

One of the problems of asking "experts" is first determining who is the expert and then how the question is asked. Often you get the answer the expert thinks you want to hear. We have a very good lawyer, one who has dealt with condominium law for decades and is not adversarial. She understands cohousing. We still get a variety of answers depending on who asks the question because each person presents the question differently.

She has agreed to meet with us annually so we prepare a list of questions for her that she looks at before hand. When we meet we discuss the answers to those questions and ask others. This invariably brings out more information as she understands our questions and their context more fully.

One of her warnings is that we are covered by condominium law and condominium insurance. If we start to behave as something else than a condominium -- like a dinner club, a neighborhood workshop, a public room for rent -- we become something else and are covered by other laws and need other insurance coverage.

For this reason, we did not rent the commonhouse or open meals to neighbors or start a workshop club when we first started. Her suggestion then was, "You have enough to think about. Let's deal with that later."

When "later" came, we were too busy and the CH is too full of what we do as a community to even think about it. People use the CH as guests of members and members can invite anyone they please as long as there is room in the meal or no other reservation on the calendar. We ask for donations for guest rooms and from big outside groups for use of the CH (but they still have to be hosted by a member) but this is not a huge amount and in the case of the larger CH, fairly rare.

One thing to remember about all these activities is that they are wear and tear on the CH and you will have to begin thinking in terms of public use. People will not feel the same way you do about your space. Hotels do not screw the lamps and tissue holders to the table for nothing. This is the main reason I, personally, would not want the CH to become a rental property. It's work to clean up after people and it changes the tone of the space. The money isn't worth it.

Sharon
-----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.