The Process

To ensure that prospective new members understand who and what we are, our membership application and orientation process must be completed before the community will consent to the transfer of shares to a potential new member. We do a criminal/credit check, but otherwise have no selection process. We do expect members to participate in running the community, as we are self-managed. Current members and the community as a whole do retain rights of first refusal on a home for 15 days after a purchase and sell agreement has been signed. For more specifics, see Community Information.

Overview and Key Points of the WCG Joining Process

1. Every adult member of the household, within the year before signing the Agreement of Sale, must complete the following steps:

• Take a community tour. Tours are generally available on Saturdays at 1:30 and Sundays at 4:00. Please call ahead to Charlotte at (206) 842-3125 or email Lori Arakaki to schedule a tour. If, after taking a tour, you want to take further steps to get to know us and become a member, inform the tour guide of your interest.
  
  
• Attend a common dinner, or other community-wide social event.  During most of the year dinners are held 5 times a week, Sunday through Thursday.  In summer there is no meal on Wednesdays.  Attending a community party or celebration can also meet this requirement.
  
  
• Attend one General Meeting of the community.  General Meetings are held monthly, usually on the second Saturday or Sunday of the month, starting at 9:00 a.m. and lasting about three hours. You should plan to stay for the entire meeting to observe how community issues are discussed and how decisions are made. Child care is usually available, but we need to know your needs in advance.

• Attend a cluster meeting.  The work of the community is managed by the clusters.  There are five clusters—Grounds, Common Facilities, Process and Communication, Maintenance, and Administration.  Every adult member of WCG is required to participate in the work of a cluster.  Clusters meet monthly at different times and in different places.

• Participate in some work activity, e.g., helping with a common house meal, taking part in a Grounds work party.

2. When you are seriously considering purchasing a home, you will need to purchase the $125 Joining pack. This pack includes a membership application and authorization for a credit check and profile, each of which must be filled out and signed.  No membership application is approved without the results of the credit check. The cost of the Joining pack is not refundable; it covers administrative costs and the cost of the credit check.  The Joining pack contains:

• Joining pack cover sheet with Checklist for Membership
• Membership Application and Credit Profile
• Clearness meeting information
• Cooperative Identity
• WCG Articles of Incorporation
• WCG Bylaws
• Sample copy of Proprietary Lease
• Sample Agreement of Sale of Cooperative Unit
• Guidelines and Regulations for Expansion and Remodeling of Homes
• Disclosure Statement
• Subletting Guidelines, Policies and Values
• Sample Rental Agreement
• Who's Who (adopted 5/1/94): classification of participation in/affiliation with WCG
• WCG Pet Guidelines (adopted 3/1/98)

After you have read the material in the Joining pack you will be asked to meet with a specified member to discuss the material in the pack and to answer any questions you may have.  We also recommend that you read the book, Cohousing, a Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by McCamant and Durrett.

3. Participate in a Clearness meeting.  When all of the steps in #1 and #2 above have been completed and the credit check is done, a Clearness meeting will be scheduled.  The Clearness meeting is another opportunity for persons who are weighing the decision to become residents to explore and clarify their understanding and expectations in joining this community.  A Clearness meeting brings you and several members of the community together in the setting of a private home. This meeting is a chance for you to hear answers to any questions you may have and a chance for us to provide you with facts, ideas, impressions and accounts of our experience in order to make clear the nature of life in this community. We believe that people who are suitably informed will decide wisely for themselves whether or not to make their home here.

4. Membership Application.  If you have decided that you want to live in WCG, you can start the actual process of purchasing a home by filling out a Membership Application.

5. An Agreement of Sale may now be signed and submitted to the WCG Board Vice President.  The Agreement of Sale is a contract between the buyer and the WCG member who is selling the home and determines the price and terms for the shares involved. 

6. Board approval.  The WCG Board has fifteen days after notice of a signed Agreement of Sale to consider all of the following documents and to approve or disapprove the Membership Application:

• Membership Application
• Biography (a paragraph, up to a page) for each adult
• Credit Check results
• notification of signed Agreement of Sale
• Clearness meeting report and confirmation of completion of all membership steps described herein.

During the fifteen day period any WCG member may exercise their right of first refusal.
If the Membership Application is approved and when your financing is complete, you will sign a lease for your new home and we will welcome you to our Community!

Copyright © 2008 Winslow Cohousing Group