Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How do communities deal with members who can't pay their condo fees or assessments?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Feb 10, 2016, at 12:39 PM, Judith Adler <judith_adler [at] hotmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> At Cornerstone we are once again thinking of how much money we should keep in 
> reserve, and one issue that repeatedly comes up is how we deal with members 
> who cannot pay increasing condo fees, either because of job loss or low 
> income. We have 4 non-market rate units and those household pay the same 
> condo fees according to percent ownership as we all do. 

I was intrigued with the response from Jamaica Plain that they had these funds 
but in the end no one used them.

Not to sound too much like a Scrooge, but I’m more concerned with how to 
determine that one household needs the money more than another. People have 
wildly different ways of spending money. 

I can’t afford to pay my condo fee this month because 

1. Both my toenail artist and my hair dresser raised their fees. I have to see 
them weekly and it adds up. (This one is real!)

2. I would have to dip into my $1 million trust fund. (She doesn’t have exactly 
$1 million but a lot.)

3. For the last two years I have been too depressed to look for work. (She got 
the message that this probably wouldn’t fly.)

4. My daughter needs to vacation in Europe for two weeks every year to 
understand The World and become a global citizen. (A big complainer about money 
generally.)

There are definitely real emergencies and crises but unless they are temporary, 
the community is subsidizing someone else's lifestyle. Some people cut back on 
eating lunches out but others don’t. One complains but others in the same 
financial circumstances don’t. 

Does the squeaky wheel get the grease? Even if the wheel has contributed and 
continues to contribute to its ability to use the grease wisely?

For this reason, I would prefer facilitating private loans between community 
members, except for communities who have taken on subsidized housing from the 
beginning.

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