Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Secrecy vs Right to Privacy? Sharing vs Hiding?

[David Heimann (heimann]

Hello All,

	A quick note ... at least in Boston, and I believe generally, 
the sale of a condo unit or any other housing and the price of that sale 
as well as the appraised value of the unit, is public information.

Regards,
David


> Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2022 13:28:03 -0500
> From: Kathleen Lowry <kathleenlowrylpcclmft [at] gmail.com>
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Secrecy vs Right to Privacy? Sharing vs Hiding?
> Message-ID: <77F66CF6-92D7-4598-9862-8C80EBA71D21 [at] gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> Very good question. As a family therapist we say individuals, and possibly 
> families ?are as sick as they are secret.? Secrecy and trust are antithetical. 
> Kathleen
>
> > On Jul 29, 2022, at 1:13 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> > cohousing.org> wrote:
> >
> > ?I have been flummoxed recently by one or two stoutly stated claims that 
> > information about sales and new residents does not have to be shared with 
> > anyone except the Board because it is a violation of the right to privacy. 
> > Sharing the asking price of a unit is unacceptable and no one?s business unless 
> > they are making an offer. New resident information is made available after the 
> > unit is sold, even after closing. It is confidential.
> >
> > When we recently discussed the policy on architectural review and worked on 
> > clarity about what needed review and what didn?t and how to record this, right 
> > to privacy was raised. Who could see this information? What right did people 
> > have to ask?
> >
> > The legal question here is easier to answer ? by law the condominium has to 
> > sign a document swearing that no changes to the unit have been done that 
> > violate any of the condominium rules so it should have some protection against 
> > liability. And if you start rearranging the plumbing it affects this whole wing 
> > of the building. But where does this idea come from that people want to keep 
> > everything secret and it has nothing to do with living in a community?
> >
> > Legally a condominium owner can sell to whomever they please within the zoning 
> > codes, etc., but does that mean they should/could/can/might keep a sale secret 
> > until someone notices they are moving out and someone else seems to be moving 
> > in? Or no one is moving in and the unit seems empty?
> >
> > But we have an exclusive rights in our bylaws so that the Association can 
> > always purchase a unit rather than having it go up for auction. How do we 
> > exercise this right if the sale is none of our business?
> >
> > Certainly the community spirit of "we all in this together," "what you do affects all of 
> > us," and "we can only do this if everyone is on board? develops more strongly in the 
> > development phase when things are touch and go. When units are selling for half a million dollars and 
> > there is a bidding war, ?its my money? is a stronger argument than when everything is at risk. But is it 
> > inevitable that selling units will be just like selling houses on the open market?
> >
> > Why would I want to live in cohousing if I wanted to do whatever I pleased, no 
> > questions asked, and no information shared? And why would I even live in a 
> > condominium ? a shared ownership scheme.
> >
> > Is this sentiment increasing in other communities?
> >
> > Sharon
> > ----
> > Sharon Villines
> > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> > http://www.takomavillage.org