Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re legal structure and function of monthly community meetings.

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Sep 11, 2005, at 10:44 PM, Evdavwes [at] aol.com wrote:

> I would love to hear how other communities are organized.  Are your  
> monthly
> (or other regular) meetings official meetings of the HOA?  Have any  
> of you
> developed the structure envisioned in the "Westwood Community" model,  
> where a
> separate "nonofficial" group meets more frequently during the year, 
> but  the
> HOA meets only once a year or for special meetings?

We have one legal entity and it meets twice a month normally, probably 
come out to 2 meetings nine months of the year and one the other three.

I personally think it is asking for trouble to have one organization 
acting as two. I think two legal entities can act as one but for one 
legal entity to act as one is bound to lead to confusion and in the end 
ineffectiveness.

> Have any cohousing groups given to their Board of Directors the 
> authority  to
> enact and enforce rules and regulations without the input of the HOA?

We currently have a disagreement about this. In general, the board does 
not do anything that is not subject to community agreement but in the 
area of sales of units there is language in the Condominium Act and in 
our Bylaws that says the"Board will". It doesn't say what happens 
before the board renders a decision (the board has to write a letter 
confirming a decision for the sale or continued extension of a rental) 
so some say it is the Board's sole decision and others say, consensus 
rules decisions and the board only signs on on the consensus decision. 
Push has not come to shove yet so it is still hanging out there. So far 
everyone has agreed on what what was obviously going to happen.

> I am aware from postings here that at least one group (Swan's Market
> Cohousing) has all members on the board of directors, so that their 
> regular  meetings
> together are actually Board Meetings.  Presumably in that case the  
> HOA only
> needs to meet annually "for the record."  Do any other cohousing  
> groups share
> this organization?

We do not and I have a sociocratic view of this. The purpose of the 
Board is to guide the organization in terms of its environment. The 
board should be concerned with 5 and 10 year plans, if you will, and 
not the daily functioning of the organization. They should be ensuring 
that the organization meets external requirements like proper financial 
statements and legal relationships.

This is important because these it is icebergs that sink ships, not 
missed dinners or disagreements between neighbors.The prime meaning of 
"to govern" is "to steer" and it means to "govern a vessel".
 Organizationally, a governance system is a steering mechanism and each 
part of the system should be designed to steer a different aspect of 
the operation. If everyone is steering everything, you lose the power 
of specialization and division of labor that has led to the very high 
standard of living that we have to day.

Without a clear governance system, we all end up in New Orleans.

> And finally, is anyone out there well-enough versed in the law to 
> answer  the
> question of whether there is some legal reason that the HOA should  
> not meet
> monthly?  We won't depend on this as a legal opinion, of  course.

This varies so much from state to state, you really need someone from 
your state to tell you this.

But I encourage you to find a lawyer who understands what cohousing is 
aiming for. We have one and she is wonderful. She really is our 
advocate and never takes an adversarial position. She help us figure 
out the best way to do things so we are protected legally and 
financially but also able to accomplish what we want to do.

The place to look for such a lawyer would be in firms that represent 
community associations or non-profit associations. Real estate lawyers, 
which many people get connected to in the purchase and construction 
stage are probably not the most understanding. You need a lawyer who 
understands "people" law as well as "property" law.

Sharon
---
Sharon Villines
Building Community: A Newsletter on Coops, Condos, Cohousing, and Other 
New Neighborhoods
http://www.buildingcommunitynews.org