Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: right of first refusal

[Dahako (Dahako]

Hi -
 
A comment on how a right of first refusal can be exercised.  The  community 
doesn't necessarily have to come up with the entire sale price  amount.  Many 
of cohousing's potential purchasers just have a relatively  small gap between 
what they can afford and what the unit costs.  If the  community (or a subgroup 
of members) co-signs a loan, directly extends a soft  second loan or makes a 
small equity investment, sometimes that will be all it  takes to get a 
community-committed purchaser in.
 
On "right of first refusal" - HUD won't support such clauses because they  
have a long and sordid history of being used to support discrimination  against 
protected classes, especially discrimination against buyers because of  their 
race or ethnicity.  They can be and have been abused.  Less  likely to happen 
in cohousing, but I think we still need to figure out a  fairly standard way 
to meet cohousing's needs without leaving a potential  for racism in our wake.
 
Jessie Handforth Kome
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, Maryland
"Where we are enjoying an unusually temperate and beautiful  autumn."