Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Low-cost Cohousing

[Brian Bartholomew (bartholomew.brian]

 > I understand there are building codes and restrictions for safety up
> to a certain extent but beyond that, laws can be manipulated and
> used for the [privileges] of those who can afford the play the legal
> game at the expense you can't.

Safety means keep the lead out of the drinking water, the sewage going
to a treatment plant, and the electrical wires cool. But you can
achieve that using an RV, a yurt, a trailer park, all sorts of ways.

> If cost isn't the real barrier, if it's legal red tape and then
> [bureaucracy] would we have to be willing to "break or bend" a few
> laws to move this forward?

I think the people who are bankrupt and about to be evicted because
they have not been allowed to work should declare Force Majeure on the
business, house, car, and credit card loans they are not able to pay.
Surely someone will file a class action lawsuit to this effect with 70
million members in the class, and demand a stay of execution while it
works its way through the courts:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_majeure

 Force majeure is a common clause in contracts that essentially
 frees both parties from liability or obligation when an
 extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the
 parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, epidemic or an
 event described by the legal term act of God, prevents one or
 both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the
 contract. In practice, most force majeure clauses do not
 excuse a party's non-performance entirely, but only suspend it
 for the duration of the force majeure.

HOA's and cost-segregating zoning are other routes to achieve the same
results as redlining. If some of this zoning and permitting goes
unenforced because the number of "nonessential" scofflaws is too large
to digest, then a lot of other marginally-housed will also benefit.

Brian