Better Interventions Hinge on a Better Understanding
Ingredients:
The Survey of Housing Cooperatives / Interviews With Members of Cooperatives
Directions:
Click CO-OP HOUSING RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT 4-Page PDF
Page 2, Paragraph 3 and 4 - Ken quotes from the 4-page PDF:
..."Only one of the 12 cooperatives had not gone through a crisis."..."Ten of the others have experienced and are still experiencing associative difficulty's, attributable to poor management, collusion, lack of interest and lack of competencies."
"The problems raised are similar and include a lack of Participation, a lack of competencies, little interest in training, no understanding of the Cooperative formula (a tenant's mentality), a non-existent, inadequate or a disregarded management structure, a lack or improper exercise of leadership, interpersonal conflicts, multicultural prejudices and challenges, abuses of power, cliques, favoritism and fraud, not to mention social problems such as prostitution and drug abuse."
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In Ken's view, the problems raised in the survey of non-profit housing cooperatives can apply to all co-ops, regardless of geographical location, scale, professional management services and other stakeholders.
Non-profit co-ops are vulnerable by their very nature, as there are No Owners and No Boss. Most individual non-profit co-op stakeholders are less concerned about the governance and management of these types of co-ops when it is not their own money at risk.
The Evolution of Member Conflict in Housing Cooperatives is a CMHC sponsored Report that was released in March 1993 as a 97 page PDF
Some other key factors that can contribute to the failure of Co-ops may also include stakeholder personal self-interest, pandering and lack of individual member engagement in the management of co-ops. Access links for info :: Stakeholders that pander at CHF Canada member housing co-ops :: Poor member engagement at CHF Canada member co-ops And Co-op housing millions down the drain
Some examples of co-op housing that may characterize the Research Highlight's can be viewed in CHIE Blogs, Ken's Site or news articles such as Crystal Heights, Sand Hills, North End United, Thornhill Green, Bridlewood, Matthew Way, Gateway, Tanglewood Orchard, Topshee, McIntosh Run, Whitehorse, Inukshuk, and Native Inter-Tribal Co-ops, etc.
Some Co-ops placed into receivership and foreclosure include: Crystal Heights co-op, Thornhill Green co-op, North End United co-op, Matthew Way co-op and Bridlewood co-op...In Ken's view, Thornhill Green co-op and North End United co-op Court documents... shared the most information in public view, and Bridlewood co-op Court documents... shared the least information in regards to CHF Canada's takeover and purchase of Bridlewood co-op.
Across the United States, the same type of inherent problems can exist with some housing co-operatives that include New York City. Some Examples are linked :: Some HDFC Housing Cooperatives, Some co-ops owe so much money that they are at risk of being forclosed records show, Lindsay Park Co-Op, and Co-Op City that has some 50,000 units
IN THE MATTER OF NON-PROFIT HOUSING CO-OPS IN CANADA
In Zimbabwe, on July 16, 2015, the Financial Gazette exposed fraud at housing co-operatives. Some excerpts from article - "A PARLIAMENTARY committee investigating the impact of housing co-operatives in a national housing development has exposed shocking evidence of abuse"...
"The rot in administration at Herbert Chitepo Co-operative epitomes mismanagement that has characterized housing housing co-operatives across the country, which has forced the ministry to contemplate setting up a tribunal to handle the flood of conflicts."...CLICK HERE for more information
Imagine the problems with poor governance & management of these co-ops prior to some of these co-op's placed into receivership and then face foreclosure!
Athol Green co-op has never been in receivership or foreclosure, but was refinanced in 2021. More information is shared by Ken about this co-op than all of the above noted housing co-ops combined!
Information may be revised or deleted without prior notification
Ken Hummel, Administrator, CHIE
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When is it a misappropriation of funds. We had a motion to give $1,000. as a bursary to Durham College in memory of.... I can find the money was listed under awards in 2013 (shown on c.h.m.a.). However, recently upon reading the deceased individual's memorial page, his mother and another board member (both are b.m.s) had taken the money this year and bought bats for Eastdale. The mother thanks the other board member L.G. for doing all this work. The story goes that the teacher at Eastdale, order bats and then had no idea how he would pay for them.There was no input from the membership nor was there a rescinding of the approved motion.
ReplyDeleteCo-op housing would be just fine had there not been so many "higher ups" with ulterior motives. These higher ups go into co-ops and form gangs with certain recruits (members) who they make sole owners of the co-op(s).
ReplyDeleteThe situation is now so bad that these co-ops are no longer co-ops. They are corporations owned by the various federations and their cohort of crooks. Just follow the rail of these "management companies ( formed by federation and even CMHC high -ups) and it should be very plain what is going on. Co-ops were never intended to be involved with let alone be part of anybody's big business.
Too many crooks-wolves in sheep's clothing in co-ops and they must go.
A certain federation has all the operatives in a certain co-op in North York. The federation sent the bookkeeper, the auditor, the lawyer, the investment portfolio persons and institutions and they had board members (for life) as their agents inside the co-op to see that their will is done. The federation even had one of their persons go in and re-write the co-op By-laws.
ReplyDeleteThe book keeper they forced into the co-op was a rascal and did all kinds of tricks with the bookkeeping; the auditor was such a scamp that large sums of money disappeared for over a year and he made no mention of that to the members. The manager found out but had no opportunity to tell the members. All this while the members thought the manager approved of the false auditor reports. The Agency (CMHC rep) was planning with certain members to start up management company and had any manager hire removed from the job. In one year the co-op had three managers come and go. Tax payers money should not be abused in this way and it must stop so instead of bloggin here please write to the Federal Minister of Finance and all levels of government minister of housing