Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Policies for guests on property

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

John —- this has come up on this list in the past.  Have you checked the 
archives?  You can check by key word.

What is propelling this discussion of background checks?  Have you had a 
problem w/ people joining your group in the past?  What are some of the issues 
being raised?

Speaking personally, I cannot imagine doing a background check on a future 
neighbor.  That kind of thinking destroys everything I consider to be sacred 
about and the promise of cohousing.  It’s worse than a gated community.  While 
surely we all get “characters” in our communities … how would we ever avoid 
that?

If you are worried about sexual predators you can check w/ on line services for 
that.   

What will be the criteria for accepting or rejecting a household based on a 
background check?  Multiple marriages?  Sticky divorces? Not paying bills on 
time? (I’ve missed payments.)   Back taxes owed?   (I got walloped one year for 
not taking out enough taxes so I owed a bundled.  Paid it off over time.)  
Served time for drug abuse?  Lost job?  (How many of us have been in THAT 
situation?)

Doing a “background” check is going to uncover a whole lot of information hat 
you may not even be considering.  Are you REALLY comfortable knowing this info 
about your neighbors?  Who will see this information?  Everyone currently “in” 
the group?  

Here’s a guideline:  Are the persons currently in the group going to have 
background checks?   Is everyone in the group comfortable with having everyone 
else “know their business?”   If you find out something about the people 
currently in your group are you booting them out?   

From a strictly marketing and outreach perspective … my mind boggles at what 
the branding would be:

Join our cohousing community!
Know your neighbors!
Background check required!

I’m not being glib — I think this is a serious issue.  Where in your outreach 
process are you going to tell prospective members they have to have a 
background check?  First meeting? Who would come back?   Second meeting?  Once 
they are really invested in the community and suddenly are informed of this?  
How many pissed off people will you have?  It would feel like “bait and switch” 
to me.  

If fear is driving your community at this stage then fear may end up driving 
your future.   The norms and conditions you establish early on are difficult to 
change later.  Really difficult.

I acknowledge people’s need for safety.  Will background checks provide that?

I’d be looking at what’s going on in the group rather than what’s going on  
“out there.”

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church VA
703-688-2646

On Apr 5, 2014, at 10:00 AM, johnrichmond50 <johnrichmond50 [at] hotmail.com> 
wrote:

> 
> Hello folks - a belated thank you to those who responded to the questions 
> regarding electoral representation. 
> 
> Another question - there is a groundswell within our group in favor of 
> background checks for future residents and renters. Given that, what are the 
> policies of your communities regarding checks on guests on your properties? 
> If there's something we're missing with checks on residents you can address 
> that too.
> 
> Thank you, Happy Saturday -
> 
> John Richmond
> Richmond Cohousing
> Sent from my Galaxy S®III
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