Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Community ownership of a rental property

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 1 May 2012, at 7:42 AM, Lautner, Patricia wrote:

> 
> We are interested in hearing the answer to this question but for a different 
> reason.  We are exploring the idea of having the HOA own a unit so that we 
> may rent it to low income families or other family types that are 
> under-represented in our community.  Please include my address in your 
> response to John's request for information below.

All replies to the list would be helpful since many communities have asked 
about this.

We haven't done this but based on having absentee owners who rented, I can see 
an issue that would need resolution in my community. Who has responsibility for 
the rented unit? For the behavior of the tenants? For repairs? For financial 
matters? Etc.

Being a landlord can be simple or a nightmare, but how it's handled by whom 
would be the issue in cohousing because there isn't a single obvious person 
responsible and cohousing communities normally don't have management companies 
that manage rental properties. Renters have rights in most states and can't be 
asked to leave without proving your case in housing court if they refuse to 
leave. So the legal issues of renter rights would have to be sorted out.

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