Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: The Future of Cohousing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 6 Feb 2011, at 1:23 PM, Zev Paiss wrote:

> • Resident management

> In this list, there is not one peep about ownership structure or cost  
> issues.

The problem with absentee owners and owners subject to different financial 
risks than renters, affects resident management. How you get around this I 
think is the issue. 

We have two non-resident owners who became non-resident owners shortly after 
one of them moved in — and we discovered that there were two owners, not just a 
cosigner of the loan — and then the one moved out. It has been over three years 
now that we have been in this position. They have been relatively responsible 
and responsive and there have been few problems. But I am always aware that 
they could object to any of our budget decisions and stop us from moving 
forward on a number of issues. Many people living here now have never met them 
and most don't even remember what the one who lived here looks like. I don't 
know if anyone would recognize the other one.

With this we are making consensus decisions. It could easily affect resident 
management. 

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