Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Question re: HOA taxes

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 10 Jun 2011, at 1:03 PM, John Beutler wrote:

> I think mixing HOA and development is a bad idea. The development is a finite 
> project which should turn over ownership of common property to the HOA and 
> then go out of business. The HOA is designed to operate in perpetuity.

I would add that it may not even be possible depending on local laws. When we 
asked our lawyer about having members who do not live in our community she said 
then we wouldn't be a condominium with a HOA. We would have to be incorporated 
or do business under a different license and different laws.

So whatever you think you want to do, talk to a lawyer first. Doing it now 
might save you a lot of pointless discussion. I say this from experience — we 
have had months of discussion on issues that just checking in the laws first 
would have saved us. We have a non-contentious lawyer on retainer and we can 
email her at no extra charge when we have questions.

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