Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOA delivering services to a subset of members

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Dec 17, 2004, at 11:20 PM, <normangauss [at] charter.net> wrote:

> Does anyone know of any precedents in which an HOA has been engaged to
> deliver services to a subset of a cohousing community?

This question is different than the next one. This question concerns 
equitable attention to all portions of the community. One portion may 
need attention to brick work, or example, because they have brick work 
and no one else does. Children might be receiving more attention to 
develop play space. This is an HOA members decision about allocation of 
funds.

> In such a case, it
> appears to me that the HOA is engaging in a non-profit business or 
> acting as
> an agent for only a portion of the community. [snip] Is the HOA 
> obligated to distribute financial statements on the business side of 
> the operations that are separate from the community financial 
> statements

Look at your legal incorporation papers. They will have a description 
of the legal activities of the corporation. This restricts what the 
association can legally do. You may also need to look at other laws for 
your state and city. For example, we are incorporated as a condominium 
in DC and the condominium law states what a condominium is and what it 
can do and must do. It specifies our legal responsibilities. If we were 
to allow neighbors to become members to use our workshop or participate 
in meal programs, we would be functioning outside our mandate -- these 
are not normal activities of a condominium association. We would have 
to operate these activities under a separate legal entity because there 
are laws that govern those kinds of activities. You can't avoid the law 
by saying you are a condominium and then run a restaurant. Or say you 
are a condominium and run rent table saws to non-residents.

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