Tag: Legal


Don’t Give Up the Dream

DON’T GIVE UP THE DREAM – IT JUST MIGHT PAY OFF The seed of cohousing along the Willamette River in Eugene was planted in 2011. Oakleigh Meadow, LLC incorporated in 2012 . With design & architectural plans in our pocket and membership interest growing solidly into the double digits, we were jazzed! OMC’s Planned Unit... Read More

Insist on Plain English Documents

Several years ago there was a post on Cohousing-L related to the community’s legal documents that were written in “legalese.” I had recently researched Plain English for Lawyers for a neighbor. She was a single parent trying to set up legal guardianship and financial oversight for her daughter in the event of her death or... Read More

Neighborly Support and Health Care, Co-Care Agreements

What neighbors may do and should not do for neighbors who need health care support One of the most difficult things to determine is where to draw the line when neighborly support and health care, particularly when it is more than a temporary need. These guidelines were initially developed at Takoma Village Cohousing to clarify... Read More

Land Use Regulations, Urban Planners, and Intentional Communities

[Editor’s Note: This article reprinted from Communities Magazine is authored by Robert Boyer, an Assistant Professor of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC Charlotte. Robert has researched cohousing and ecovillage initiatives around the world, and was an enthusiastic participant at the 2015 National Cohousing Conference.] We love our property rights in the United States. The... Read More

Architectural Review Policies: Plan-Implement-Measure

Architectural review policies are generally hard to write, partly because we have very different housing experiences when we move into cohousing and partly because we don’t know how to talk about architecture or colors.. The process touches on understanding how to live in a jointly owned or managed community, legal ramifications, and shared aesthetic or... Read More

What Should We Be Afraid Of?

On Cohousing-L, a member of a forming group asked a smart question: “What SHOULD we be worried about?” Philip Dowds, an architect living in Cornerstone Cohousing in Cambridge Cohousing replied:Plan on delay. Plan on surprising cost increases. Plan on flogging your way past disappointments. Your group may have to deal one or more of …internal... Read More

“Cohousing” & HUD: A Love Story

“Cohousing” & HUD: A Love Story Talk about moving a mountain … are “Cohousing” and HUD falling in love? Matchmaker and Cohousing Coach, Raines Cohen, a Cohousing California regional organizer living at Berkeley Cohousing, dished out the ice cream and hot fudge Tuesday night. The assembled were celebrating the end of a petition campaign to... Read More

Mistakes New Cohousing Groups Make

A list of the 6 mistakes that groups have made that contributed to their downfall or cost them significant financial loses and/or membership problems. Not a scientific study but reflects 20 years of reading Cohousing-L. 1. NOT READING COHOUSING-L. Cohousing-L will give you access to hundreds of successful cohousers who are more than willing to... Read More

Home Owner Associations Pulse

HOA Pulse is website for Home Owner Associations. It has an excellent newsletter and is also a social media site for with focused discussions for topics related to homeowner association management. http://www.hoapulse.com Cohousing at 30+ years with communities aging and growing in size is facing new issues. In larger communities, relationship complexities increase geometrically. The... Read More