Finance & Legal minutes: 2013-12-09

Minutes:

Attending: Debbi, Becky, Keith, Adi

- F&L policy on lost reimbursement checks is now: All GOCA issued lost
checks will only be replaced if the original check is stopped and the
receipient pays for that bank action (currently the bank charges $25)
-- so checks under $25 will not be replaced or stopped (Monkey to
Becky to send this out to the community)

- Accounts receivable

nothing extraordinary to report, two households who are behind are
trying to pay extra

. update existing lien to $7700+lien placing expenses

. possible new lien for other household


- new Year and year end stuff

Becky needs:

. reserve fund increase per household for 2014 (done)
. 2014 Budget lineitems in spreadsheet form (Monkey for Adi)
. CH solar hot water billing -- debit from CH budget in 2013, credit in 2014

- CH loan/assessment

Mary hopes to be able to do the F&L special job of marshalling
resources for households to pay back their CH loan in 2015 on the next
work season (Spring 2014).

For those who have not paid the CH loan, $2768.85 will come due on June
30, 2015. The amortization schedule for the CH loan is available

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqJc8PncDDT1dERRalo2Y2FXRWk1bU05d2N5eXl3LVE&usp=sharing

some background can be found in the 2012 loan review

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IQxrqZ5edBcAbBK7FqfPntAFohPTfv7Ld9Z_DUE3JB4/edit?usp=sharing

The only "legally enforceable" method to record the "CH construction assessment" is using a lien:

http://gocoho.org/pipermail/finance_gocoho.org/2012-October/004832.html

and it has to be called an "assessment" because GOCA cannot make loans
to individual households legally:

http://gocoho.org/pipermail/finance_gocoho.org/2012-September/004721.html

scroll down to the Tue, Aug 14, 2012 reply from David Keast addressed to Aaron:

> From: Keast, David <DKeast at plunkettcooney.com>
> Date: Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 8:06 AM
> Subject: RE: Great Oak Master Deed
> To: Aaron Wilson-Ahlstrom <wilsonahlstrom at gmail.com>
...

> I have a substantial banking / lending practice and can certainly
> help with the loan program form, but I have some concerns. First,
> since they are clearly for a personal or household purpose, these
> loans will have to be structured as consumer loans and will be
> subject to many of the standard consumer regs and disclosures, which
> you're not well equipped to handle.
>
> Moreover, although research may show that there is an exception
> which the Association can claim, consumer lending is regulated in
> Michigan -- it's unclear to me that the Association's powers under
> the Nonprofit Corporation Act, the Condominium Act and its
> governance documents include loans to members, and even if they do,
> it may not be able to enforce an obligation unless it has first
> qualified as a State regulated lender.

based on that legal opinion, it seems like GOCA should not be making
loans to individual households. What we have could be construed as
"assessments" but then they would have to be recorded as liens.