Re: Community ownership of a rental property
From: John Carver (jcarverislandnet.com)
Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 08:25:20 -0700 (PDT)
On 01/05/2012 8:27 AM, Sharon Villines wrote:
We haven't done this but based on having absentee owners who rented, I can see an issue that would need resolution in my community. Who has responsibility for the rented unit? For the behavior of the tenants? For repairs? For financial matters? Etc.

I'm perceiving the unit being owned by the strata corporation (HOA to you) and therefore we would collectively be the landlords and responsible for all of the above. Of course we'd need to have people willing to take on those roles.

Being a landlord can be simple or a nightmare, but how it's handled by whom would be the issue in cohousing because there isn't a single obvious person responsible and cohousing communities normally don't have management companies that manage rental properties.

Well as it happens we have had quite a bit of experience with rentals here. Pacific Gardens was completed (at great expense) at a time when the market dropped (2009) and we had only sold half of the properties. We've found creative ways to share ownership and extend mortgages, but we still have only half the properties owner-occupied. The rest are rented, some as family homes, some rented to students by the room (we're near the university).

It hasn't been the nightmare that some people imagine. I can't say there haven't been problems, but the experience has brought into our community a dynamic that didn't exist before. The owners were mostly older, no young children, half of us retired. Renting has brought in young families and people who simply don't have the means to purchase. The place is alive with the sounds of youngsters at play, our common facilities in frequent use for a variety of creative activities.

Renters have rights in most states and can't be asked to leave without proving your case in housing court if they refuse to leave. So the legal issues of renter rights would have to be sorted out.

In BC we're governed by the Rental Tenancy Act, which we've made ourselves cognizant of. Internally our strata bylaws make everyone who lives here a member of council - everyone has a say and everyone has responsibility to the community.

We are, of course still looking for buyers. Know anyone who'd like to settle into a welcoming community on the big island on Canada's west coast? Excellent location, offering the best of both rural and urban setting.

John Carver
Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community
http://pacificgardens.ca/


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