Cohousing-L Mailing List: What you call the first group & Nolo Press [was Early Bank Account Types for Explorer Membership Dues and Professional Fees (Lyn Deardorff)

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

As others have said it is very important what you call yourselves, particularly 
what you call yourselves on any official document. There is a long history of 
developers, particularly of condominiums, scamming purchasers. They sell things 
that never get built. And there are no give backs. It was an investment not a 
purchase.

For buyers protection, some states have rigid laws that prevent a developer 
from telling you you are a “homeowner" when the “home" doesn’t exist. As long 
as it “might” exist, it is still a plan. The money is at risk.

Legal requirements make no distinctions between a "cooperative group of equals 
who know and trust each other" and a fly-by-night super sales person making 
dubious promises and taking cash.

So read your state laws. Don’t be afraid to read legislation. Before you sell 
or sign anything you need a lawyer to confirm that you’ve read it right and are 
protected from all the ills of having property. But paying $700 an hour for 
telling you things you can learn yourself makes no sense. Check out Nolo Press 
and other legal guides for the normal person as well as your state website 
where all the laws will be posted. They are public documents.

Real story:

Nolo Press was started by two legal aid lawyers who were helping low-income 
families in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s. Charles (Ed) Sherman 
and Ralph (Jake) Warner had to turn away working people who didn't qualify for 
free legal aid but couldn’t afford lawyers. Millions of Americans who earned 
less than $5 an hour had to pay $80 per hour for the most routine legal 
information, or go without.

There were almost no sources of free or low-cost legal information—no 
do-it-yourself books or software, , no Internet, and no court-based, self-help 
programs. 

In 1971, they began writing consumer law guides like “do your own divorce” and 
“how to form your own corporation.” No one would publish them — “Self-help law? 
You must be nuts!” So they started their own incredibly successful press. It is 
now part of a conglomerate and different in tone but is still a comprehensive 
guide to understanding everyday law. 

Nolo Law was one of the pioneers of the popular law revolution. Today it would 
be called “citizen law” like "citizen science.”

Sharon
——— 
Sharon Villines
Affordable means 30% of your income, not 80% of someone else’s
http://affordablecohousing.com