Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: rentals

[Kay Argyle (argyle]

Wasatch Commons, Salt Lake City, Utah, has
* five income-qualified rent-to-own units (owned by the community),
* two privately owned rentals (one owner out of state, one across the path),
and
* one room-rental.

>1. What kinds of rules does your community have about members renting out
>parts of their  units when they (the owner members) are also living there?

The dominant feeling from discussions is that all people living in the
community should participate.  In practice, however, exceptions get made.

>Do you ask that the renters have an orientation session?
It depends on the circumstances of the rental.

>What kinds of problems have you had with people who are renting from
>members who are living in their units? How did you solve them?

Some members have expressed discomfort about particular instances of
nonparticipation.  Most room-renters/guests aren't around long, which
"solves" the problem for that individual, although the transience doesn't
overjoy people either.

An ex-husband who "needed a place to stay for a week or two" was still here
months later.  When the Welcoming Committee asked him to attend an
orientation, he talked his ex-wife into moving.

A nurse-midwife rents out a room so that, when she leaves to deliver a baby,
someone will be in the house and her little girl won't have to spend the
night on a neighbor's sofa.  Her latest renter came to our community meeting
this week and is reportedly intrigued about living here.

In addition, a woman who provides care for a member's autistic child
sometimes stays overnight, with no expectations from the community.

>2. What kinds of rules does your community have about members renting  out
>their  entire units when they (the owner members) are not living there?

Get written permission from the management committee for a unit to be a
rental longer than a year (written rule).  Make efforts to find someone who
wants cohousing, not just a house (unwritten rule).

The expectation is that renters will be fully equal with owners in as many
matters as possible -- both rights and obligations.

> Are those renters asked to go through an orientation session?

Yes (theoretically).  Personally, I would recommend that renters go through
orientation before a lease is signed.

> What kinds of problems have you had with people who are renting
> from members when the members are not living in their units?

Few problems are unique to renters.  Like owners, some don't participate, or
they violate the community's (unwritten, although a few of us are slowly
working on changing that) rules -- share the workload, supervise your dog's
potty breaks, don't smoke in public.

Because renters turn over a bit faster than owners, they're more likely to
pose the problems typical of new members: They're less invested emotionally
(besides financially) and need bringing up to speed on the community's
expectations and history.

Legally I suspect it's difficult-to-impossible to evict for
nonparticipation, although I think the owner-across-the-path writes
participation into the lease -- and he picks his tenants carefully.

>3. Has your community had any experience with members renting out parts
>or all of their units to small businesses?

Part of a common building was rented to a member for a while.  Any problems
arose from him as an individual.

>4. What kinds of rental policies do you wish your cohousing community had
>started with?

I wish we could get stuff we have agreed on verbally, into writing.

I don't like the restriction on renting more than a year. I'm troubled by
the built-in assumptions that we need to guard against people buying a unit
for the "wrong" reasons (like real estate speculation) and that landlords
are inherently evil minions of capitalism; that home owners are virtuous
civic-minded citizens and there's something inferior about tenants.  I've
had landlords I disliked, and I see how society gains from the way people
relate differently to a house they own, but a reality check might be in
order -- (a) the low-income units are rentals; therefore, as a result of
seeking income diversity *we* are landlords.  If we regard the breed with
suspicion, it's up to us to be model landlords, and frankly I've seen people
in it for the money who were better.  (b) Cohousing as an investment is too
far-fetched a scam even for Salt Lake, and there's no onus on the management
committee to consider whether the absentee owner can sell without losing
their shirt, or worse (from the community's perspective), the house going to
the bank.  And (c) I've observed certain behaviors that didn't build
community occurring a little more often in renters than in owners, but
others more often in owners.  If the community has renters, you'll have a
greater variety of challenges, but not necessarily more total.  Remember
diversity is one of these things that you have to be careful what you ask
for because you might get it.

Kay Argyle
Wasatch Commons
Salt Lake City
argyle [at] mines.utah.edu

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