Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing vs "traditional" self-managed community

[Lisa Kuntz (lisa.kuntz]

That is an excellent question, Mac. I  appreciate the use of the word
"sanction" rather than lawsuit or complaint.

As I understand it, if a formal complaint were lodged the complaint would
be investigated and suggestions made.  There wouldn't be a monetary
assessment against the community, which seems to be a great source of
anxiety and fear. There would be the opportunity for self-correction.

Recently, another member suggested that the “honorable” thing for me to do
was step down from my role on Membership Team in giving tours and/or
contact with the public for mistakes I have made IN THE PAST.  A couple who
moved  here three years ago knew so little about cohousing that they were
outraged that we had  an informal interview/”vetting”  process. They
learned about FH laws and have used them to scrutinize past messages and
comments over the years to the point where it felt to me as though FH were
being weaponized!

The member insisted that the Membership Team committed “flagrant
violations,” which seems a bit inflammatory to me. That is different from
“taking responsibility for.” The couple have achieved their goal of having
only formal realtor-type tours by recruiting a cohort of like minded
residents to form a FH team to educate the community. From my perspective,
they went to extremes to eliminate any informal/casual dialogue when
showing potential residents the complex. Instead of modifying the current
conversational interview/tour to ensure that we were FHA compliant, the
Membership Team eliminated it under pressure from the new FH team.

My view is that many of the "errors" I made are subject to interpretation.
There is a belief that because our Membership Team had a one-hour video
orientation presented by FH of Oregon, myself and others should know how to
navigate making full disclosure of what future residents can expect while
remaining in compliance with FHA.  I think that takes practice, yet I was
informed that I should have known better.

Our website was deemed to be acceptable by FH of Oregon, but it is
nevertheless being revised. I think lawyers will be brought into the
picture to scrutinize any new documents or processes that involve
interaction with potential residents

 The FH study team created an internal FH Concern Response Procedure where
residents can submit concerns. Three “neutral” residents will be assigned
to the team. I don’t understand how this can work in a cohousing community
without generating mistrust and hard feelings. That is about to be
presented to the community at a business meeting.

This is an abbreviated version, of course. My take is based on a few months
of observation and inquiry, but this whole endeavor is extremely concerning
to me.

Educating and forming an internal FH review team seems legally wise, but I
don't think it was done wisely.  One reason I think it was unskillfully
handled is that unlike conventional communities, which are purely business
oriented, the ideals of cohousing are based on a well-functioning social
fabric.  From my perspective, this whole endeavor has been insensitive to
the social fabric of the community. It's been treated as though it were a
morality issue rather than a legal and ethical one. The way it was handled
has damaged my relationship with the community.

I always try to find the humor in dynamics like this. Surely one ironic
aspect is that they have alienated a once hard-working committed, long time
member because of what seems to me to be a judgmental, moralistic and
fundamentalist mind-set towards residents who "transgress."

It's just the stuff of cohousing and something I was mostly prepared for.
We're a bunch of sometimes unskillful volunteers with varying degrees of
social intelligence!

Have others had experiences like this?



Lisa Kuntz
Daybreak Cohousing
Portland OR
lisa.kuntz [at] gmail.com




On Tue, Jun 10, 2025 at 5:51 AM Mac Thomson <macthomson [at] mac.com> wrote:

> There’s been a lot of concern over the years with cohousing marketing
> running afoul of fair housing laws.
>
> I’m curious, have there ever been any cohousing communities that have
> actually been sanctioned for violations of fair housing laws?
>
>
> --
> Mac Thomson
>
> Heartwood Cohousing
> Southwest Colorado
> http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com
>
>
> "It isn't enough to talk about peace.  One must believe in it.  One must
> work at it."
>         - Eleanor Roosevelt
> **********************************************************
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 5, 2025, at 3:03 PM, Lisa Kuntz via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks for your reply, Linda.
>
> It reflects our concerns about moving away from "full disclosure" due to FH
> concerns.
>
> FH seems to want you to share less, but that seems "unkind" to me, in the
> sense that potential members could end up buying into community that is not
> what they expected, or missing the opportunity to live in a community that
> would be a welcoming "sanctuary."
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM Linda Hobbet <coho [at] lindahobbet.com> wrote:
>
> We run into that problem at Village Hearth in Durham, NC. We are an
> LGBTQIA+ and allies-oriented senior community. one of our core values is
> to create a space where people are comfortable being themselves in
> public. While cohousing communities in general are welcoming being in a
> place where LGBTQ+ people are the majority feels different to our members.
>
> We are concerned about that focus changing over time, simply due to
> demographics, because we aren't allowed to say we prefer LGBTQ+ people
> when marketing available units. Probably the most useful tool is our
> website (currently under revision), which makes who we are very clear.
> That and general promotion of the community without it being linked to
> marketing a specific unit. Our orientation has attracted media coverage,
> especially at the beginning. For example, we are going to be featured on
> an upcoming CBS Eyes on America segment on the national evening news!
> Nevertheless, our population can easily swing to mostly allies
> (including myself) rather than actual members of the LGBTQ+ community,
> simply because 55+ LGBTQ+ people are a much smaller demographic.  We are
> currently about 50/50.
>
> Linda Hobbet
>
> On 6/4/2025 7:16 PM, Mariana Almeida via Cohousing-L wrote:
>
> Marketing a unit in cohousing is fraught in a fair housing context. You
>
> want to know a lot about people, but the fair housing law essentially wants
> you to know less (so you can discriminate less.)
>
> --
> VillageHearthCohousing.com
> 706-202-7178
> coho [at] lindahobbet.com
>
> "When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blooms.”
>                                                    Ma Jaya
>
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