Cohousing-L Mailing List: Developer Model of Co-housing

[Sue Ellen Hiers (ncdl]

Are there any best practices for the situation where one party (call this 
person the developer) owns the land?  My heart wants to be a part of such a 
forming co-ho but my brain says too much is undefined for money to start 
changing hands. And what is defined is unsettling. In fact if I didn't know the 
developers I would not even consider it. 
How can lawyers/consultants/architects, represent both sides of this 
transaction? By that I mean the money changing hands will be used to add value 
to the land (zoning changes, etc) that the members have no title to. Should the 
non-developer members hire their own lawyers/consultants to represent their 
interest? Should liens be put on the land for the value added?  How can the 
group be protected in the event of the developer's death or incapacity? This 
model of co-ho seems ripe for affinity fraud because it appears to be based 
only on trust. Again the owners of the land (who are not professional 
developers) are long time friends of mine so I am not suggesting there is any 
fraud here.I would like to know what others who have faced or are facing this 
model have done.
 Regards, Sue Ellen