Ownership Options

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Background Information

SEE: Park Documents for
— Park purchase
— Historical information
— Financial information
— Current Park governance

Current Activities

The Resident Ownership Discovery (ROD) committee will post the next community actions here. Watch for more details. 

Activities Timeline

April 23, 2024  A Resident Update was distributed as a reminder to everyone that we are following two roads right now — one is the negotiations with the City and the other is taking steps toward becoming self-owned as an LEHC.

Sunday, March 24, 6 pm, Clubhouse ballroom, in person and on Zoom. A PAC community meeting of residents was held to ask for a vote on a proposal to elect an interim Board of Directors for the Public Benefit Corporation — in person, on Zoom, or by Proxy. For more information please see the March 24 Resident Update and the Video link from the March 20 workshop. There is no video for this meeting. The vote was passed decisively: Yes-219, No-14, Abstain-1.

March 20, Workshop The ROD Committee led a workshop to discuss and answer questions about the resident vote scheduled for March 24. The workshop focused on why are we calling for an election now of the Interim Board of Directors for the Public Benefit Corporation and why are we proposing the current PAC Board members to serve as the interim Public Benefit Corporation Board. A name for the Public Benefit Corporation has not been discussed yet. Keep thinking. March 20 Workshop Zoom link.

March 6, 2024  Information about the March 6 vote was sent to residents via email and also as a flyer in the tubes. Read the March 5 Resident Update here. All-Resident Vote (yes, no, or abstain) on the following proposal: “This vote is to begin the process of forming a Public Benefit Corporation that will have newly approved Articles of Incorporation and an elected Board of Directors.” The motion was passed decisively: Yes-283, No-2, Abstain-1

Zoom link

Follow-Up Workshop February 28, 2024

Handout, PowerPoint slides, Zoom link (video begins with PowerPoint slides)
 Agenda:
•  Comparison of ownership models
•  Financial aspects of resident ownership
•  Resident involvement in Park governance
•  Procedures for March 6 vote on proceeding with LEHC next steps
•  Q & A

 The ROC Path for MVMCC to Become a LEHC Community Workshop
Wednesday, February 21, 2024

To help our community understand the LEHC model, the ROD committee invited key staff from ROC USA and CCCD to provide an in-person community presentation on February 21 in our clubhouse to lay out the ROC path for MVMCC to become a LEHC with these questions to address.

• ROC USA and CCCD role in helping us become a LEHC
• How a LEHC housing co-op works
• Changes in resident responsibilities as a LEHC
• Management and governance as a LEHC
• Benefits of LEHC vs. other ownership options
• The process as we advance.

This workshop helped prepare residents to vote, for the March 6 PAC Board meeting, as to whether or not to begin the process of incorporating as a LEHC, which includes preparing the articles of incorporation. This was the first of several resident votes before committing fully to the LEHC form of resident ownership. 

Here are the Workshop handout, PowerPoint slides and Zoom link (video begins with PowerPoint slides).

On February 6, the PAC Board concurred with this recommendation and gave support for an outreach program to residents about how the Park could become an LEHC

On February 1, the ROD committee provided another resident update and analysis of ownership options. In this update, the committee developed a recommendation that the PAC Board and park move forward with the LEHC model as the most advantageous path toward resident ownership.

In August 2023, after the City of Novato’s decision to not go forward with the sale of MVMCC, the PAC Board created the Resident Ownership Discovery Committee to explore several resident ownership models. On September 11, 2023 the ROD committee provided an analysis of ownership options reviewed to the PAC board. Later that month the committee provided an Analysis of Options report summary to the community.

On December 6,  2023, the ROD committee facilitated a community presentation on the LEHC ownership option from ROCUSA and CCCD. These two organizations work together to help communities like ours become resident-owned. The presentation focused on the Limited Equity Housing Corporation (LEHC) model for resident ownership. The meeting was also summarized in the January Echo, pages 6–9.

Why a Limited Equity Housing Co-op?

Limited Equity Housing Cooperative (LEHC)

We recommend this model. As an LEHC:
a.  We would own our own land.
b.  Residents control who is elected to our board from members within our community.
c.  We can engage expert technical support from two organizations that specialize in helping communities like ours become resident owned:

1. Resident Owned  Communities USA  (ROC USA) and the California Center for Cooperative Development (CCCD), which is a CA nonprofit and serves as a certified technical adviser to ROC USA assisting communities in CA to become self-owned. CCCD understands CA law. All of its paperwork complies with CA State requirements.

2. ROC USA has helped 317 communities  become resident owned communities across the country, with a 100% success rate.

Together, ROC USA and CCCD have extensive in-depth knowledge of the legal, financial, and community-building work that is needed if we are to become self-owned. You can learn more about these organizations and their work at rocusa.org and cccd.coop, (rocusa.org/meet-the-communities)

The ROD Committee is working with these experts to develop a preliminary financial assessment of the impact of becoming self-owned and how residents’ rents may be impacted.

As a nonprofit LEHC, funding options for Park acquisition and future Park improvements, including grants and loans with favorable funding terms, are more readily available.

Other Models Considered

Given several possible models (below) including a Long-Term Lease, Mutual Benefit Corporation, and a Community Land Trust, the ROD Committee believes the Limited Equity Housing Cooperative (LEHC) model provides us the best option at this time.

Long-term lease with the City of Novato
The PAC Board has stated that this is not a viable option on the table right now.

Self Ownership as a Mutual Benefit Corporation
This path has been set aside for now because of several concerns. It requires a considerably high initial investment per household. Grant funding is less easily available. Creating a legal framework for this option involves more uncertainty and greater attorney involvement (and expense). These drawbacks could jeopardize our goal of creating an affordable low-income community.

Community Land Trust

ROD Committee research on a CLT model indicates the following, with some nuances:
a. The land trust has to find the funds to buy the Park.
b. The land trust would own the land.
c.. Residents would be renters with a 99-year land lease.
d. Residents would not have control of our board. The structure of the new board under a CLT is:   ⅓ residents, ⅓ from the local community,  and ⅓ to include public officials, community  leaders, and nonprofit workers, to name a few.
e. Other important considerations under the land  trust model include:
     i.    The resale values of our homes are considerably restricted (based on a formula).
     ii.   All home improvements must be preapproved, and certain upgrades are not included in your base cost when calculating your permissible resale price.
     iii. Our homes must be sold for less than market value.

Important Notes

First — no decision on any option for Park ownership will be made without a vote of residents.
Second — it will take several months to get to a recommended decision, and the timing cannot yet be determined.
Third — the ROD Committee and PAC Board are committed to realizing our goal of remaining an affordable and secure low-income senior community.

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