On the second Sunday of each month at Cascadia Commons; vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, and omnivores gather together in the Common House to have HAM—a Homeowners Association Meeting. 

Like many co-housing communities, Cascadia Commons is governed by consensus, or rather the HOA is. Up until 2013, residents who were not members of the HOA (renters, housemates) could liberally participate in consensus with the following restrictions:

Consensus/participation rights of tenants will exclude condo doc amendments, leases, easements, or matters with significant implications for HOA and/or homeowner finance and property values…²

Agreed by consensus May 13, 2001

This above restriction had the caveat that it would only be invoked when “the process gets bogged down or tenants hold the only red cards.”

Then, in September of 2012, one of the renters in the unit downstairs from us lit a firecracker in the mailing list with the following:

Is it true that Renters are no longer capable of speaking during meetings (HOA)?³

Email Thread Regarding Renter Participation in Cascadia HOA meetings

A lively dialog ensued on the list, meetings of various committees were held over the following months, with the upshot being that the former agreement allowing renter participation in consensus was rescinded. Going forward, renters and other resident non-homeowners were no longer permitted to participate in consensus decisions in the HAM:

Renters and non-owner residents may participate in discussion but not participate in a test for consensus or vote.⁴

Agreed by consensus Feb 10, 2013

There is a trend in Cohousing to lose sight of the founder’s vision and ideals and slowly slouch towards becoming just another condominium association.⁵ Looking back, I think we missed an opportunity to creatively retain the community consensus while still satisfying the legal restrictions that bind Condominium boards in our state. Let us rend unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and not one jot or tittle more.

At least 14% of current Cascadia adult residents are ineligible to participate in consensus, due to not being named on the title of their place of residence. Perhaps we need some RAMs (Resident Association Meetings) to serve alongside our HAMs.

1. 86% figure derived from at least 4 adult resident non-owners ineligible to participate in consensus.
2. Agreed by consensus May 13, 2001
   Consensus/participation rights of tenants will exclude condo doc amendments, leases, easements, or matters with significant implications for HOA and/or homeowner finance and property values. Implementation: meeting facilitators can invite anyone to participate in any discussion. This policy is for times when the process gets bogged down or tenants hold the only red cards.
3. Email Thread Regarding Renter Participation in Cascadia HOA meetings
4. Agreed by consensus Feb 10, 2013
   It is proposed that all HOA meetings will continue to be referred to as “HOA Meetings” but will be conducted in a open meeting format whereby renters and non-owner residents may attend and participate in discussion at the discretion of the facilitator in the same manner available to unit owners. Renters and non-owner residents may participate in discussion but not participate in a test for consensus or vote.
5. The 100,000-mile Community Tune Up CoHousing.org blog July 17, 2015