Cohousing-L Mailing List: HOA and the law

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

In our state, there is no governmental agency that in any way reviews or
monitors anything HOA's do. So whether or not something is legally permitted
never comes across our particular communities radar in determining whether
we do something or not. This is not say we are a band of outlaws, but if
sharing money or someother practical thing is worth doing, we simply do it,
since there is nobody to arrest us out here in the wilds of washington
state.  The IRS has never said boo to us about anything either. We did have
a competent accountant once review our books, we made a couple small
adjustments based on her advice and after that done pretty much whatever
suits us.

I understand that in some states, HOA's have a governmental review process
of some kind, which somehow polices them into following all the rules.
Washington does not yet have such a problem. If your state does not either,
then you have a great deal of freedom to do what works for you, irregardless
of what your bylaws or other legal boilerplate documents say. 

I suppose if you have the misfortune of some highly dysfunctional
relationship, you would be at risk that somebody would tattle on you to
whomever might care. That is not a problem we have here.

Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood


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