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

[Kathleen Lowry (kathleenlowrylpcclmft]

Very good question. As a family therapist we say individuals, and possibly 
families “are as sick as they are secret.” Secrecy and trust are antithetical. 
Kathleen 

> On Jul 29, 2022, at 1:13 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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