Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bylaws and investments

[drmaryanngroups (drmaryanngroups]

One of the things we did early on was put together a policies and procedures 
document we call The Villagers Guide. Almost 10 years ago now, when we had to 
revise our CC&Rs and By Laws (we're an HOA in the eyes of the state), we 
defined all three documents, CC&Rs, By Laws and Villagers Guide, are our 
legally binding documents. 

The CC&Rs and By Laws are written in "legalese" reflecting their origin with 
our attorney, the Villager's Guide is in a more personal but still professional 
style. 

The CC&Rs and By Law can only be amended by a vote of the members of the HOA 
(home owners). Some portions of the Villager's Guide are the responsibility of 
a single committee that can make changes as necessary, information about common 
meals, for example. Other portions have been approved by consensus of our 
members and require a new consensus for revisions.

This "three-legged stool" has worked well for us. If you'd like a copy of our 
Villagers Guide, it's available for a nominal fee from our website: 
http://www.manzanitavillage.com. Just click the Buy Now button on the right 
side of the page.

Mary Ann
Manzanita Village where we're enjoying the summer monsoons


On Aug 27, 2013, at 6:50 AM, John Richmond <johnrichmond50 [at] hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> 
> Hello everyone -- 
> 
> 
> 
> At Richmond Cohousing we are at a major inflection point. We are now in 
> serious talks with a developer and are attempting to finalize our bylaws. Two 
> questions for now:
> 
> 
> 
> 1. In the beginning of a cohousing group's history, should it have a 
> substantially different set of bylaws for pre- and post- move-in times (i.e. 
> a non-HOA-type set before and more HOA-like bylaws after move-in?)
> 
> 
> 
> 2. How did your group handle allowing people who invest in developments 
> upfront to be paid back their initial investment such that founders and 
> non-founders ended up paying equal proportions of development costs? Was this 
> even identified as a concern in your group?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks -- 
> 
> 
> 
> John Richmond
> 
> Richmond Cohousing
>                                         
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> 

--
"I have flying monkeys. . .
and I'm not afraid to use them!."

Mary Ann Clark                                                  drmaryann49 
[at] mac.com
http://homepage.mac.com/drmaryann/index.html