Cohousing-L Mailing List: Secrecy vs Right to Privacy? Sharing vs Hiding?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

I have been flummoxed recently by one or two stoutly stated claims that 
information about sales and new residents does not have to be shared with 
anyone except the Board because it is a violation of the right to privacy. 
Sharing the asking price of a unit is unacceptable and no one’s business unless 
they are making an offer. New resident information is made available after the 
unit is sold, even after closing. It is confidential.

When we recently discussed the policy on architectural review and worked on 
clarity about what needed review and what didn’t and how to record this, right 
to privacy was raised. Who could see this information? What right did people 
have to ask?

The legal question here is easier to answer — by law the condominium has to 
sign a document swearing that no changes to the unit have been done that 
violate any of the condominium rules so it should have some protection against 
liability. And if you start rearranging the plumbing it affects this whole wing 
of the building. But where does this idea come from that people want to keep 
everything secret and it has nothing to do with living in a community?

Legally a condominium owner can sell to whomever they please within the zoning 
codes, etc., but does that mean they should/could/can/might keep a sale secret 
until someone notices they are moving out and someone else seems to be moving 
in? Or no one is moving in and the unit seems empty? 

But we have an exclusive rights in our bylaws so that the Association can 
always purchase a unit rather than having it go up for auction. How do we 
exercise this right if the sale is none of our business?

Certainly the community spirit of "we all in this together," "what you do 
affects all of us," and "we can only do this if everyone is on board” develops 
more strongly in the development phase when things are touch and go. When units 
are selling for half a million dollars and there is a bidding war, “its my 
money” is a stronger argument than when everything is at risk. But is it 
inevitable that selling units will be just like selling houses on the open 
market?

Why would I want to live in cohousing if I wanted to do whatever I pleased, no 
questions asked, and no information shared? And why would I even live in a 
condominium — a shared ownership scheme.

Is this sentiment increasing in other communities?

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