Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Rental company involvement

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On May 6, 2026, at 11:56 AM, Melanie Mindlin via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> When the owner was asked about this situation, he replied that the Rental 
> Agency told him it was illegal for them to tell prospective renters anything 
> about our community. They gave the renter a copy of our CC&R’s (which does 
> not include the By Laws or Rules and Regulations, both official documents of 
> the community). This person has now arrived in our community and said that 
> she asked the agency if the home was part of the Cohousing Community and was 
> told NO. [snip]  Does anyone have information on this issue to share so I can 
> enter into a conversation well informed?

It is not illegal to share information. The renter/buyer might have signed a 
contract in which they agreed not to share information but there is nothing 
illegal about a prospective owner/renter contacting neighbors, etc. There are 
some messages in the archives on this and they always mention the problem in 
relation to using a real estate agent. Usually the contract says the the 
buyer/renter has to pay a commission to the agent if the agent is the first 
person to how them the unit.

The agent is protecting their own commission. They tell the prospect what they 
want to hear and they don’t want anyone else telling them anything that might 
screw the deal — like "this isn’t cohousing.” That would clearly be a lie and 
would void the agreement. 

Takoma Village has had negative results using agents and produced at least one 
sale to almost totally uninterested and non-participaing residents. They have a 
well defined process that attracts interested buyers well before a unit is 
available. People attend a meal, a meeting, an orientation and join a waiting 
list. Some will then participate in workdays while they wait for a unit to be 
available. Ann Zabaldo and Alicia George have explained the process so you can 
search the archives for their messages. And check the Takoma Village website:

http://www.takomavillage.org <http://www.takomavillage.org/>

You don’t want anyone to rent or buy without understanding what they are 
getting themselves into. For buyers the state laws usually require that all the 
polices and agreements they will have to follow to be provided to them before 
they sign on the dotted line.

Question anything that doesn’t produce the results you need.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC