Welcome Residents,
We set up this page so you can easily access and distribute information about how mobile home co-ops (also known as resident-owned communities or ROCs) work. This page will also allow you to stay up to date on what the Board, working with the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI), is doing to explore the option of resident ownership for Great Hill.
At the bottom of this page, you’ll find an outline of everything that’s happened so far from the end of August, when Legacy, Inc. submit a bid to buy Great Hill Estates, to the end of December, when a lawsuit was filed to allow residents to exercise their right of first refusal. This lawsuit halted the Association’s process for the time being while we wait for our day in court.
Above the “history” section, you’ll find updates on more recent activity, with the most current info displayed on the top and the less recent stuff towards the bottom. The Board is meeting regularly with CDI to receive trainings, and material from those meetings will be shared here so everyone stays in the loop.
Contact Information for the Board of Directors
You can also send any questions, comments, or concerns to the general Association email: Ghera.home@gmail.com
General Information on Resident Ownership
- Tenant to Owner guidebook that has some basic information on how ROCs work, what CDI’s role is, and answers some frequently asked questions.
- “Frequently Asked Questions” on ROCs
- A flyer on the affordability of resident owned communities compared to commercially owned communities
- Learn more about CDI’s New England Resident Owned Communities program at their website
- Learn more about ROCUSA at their website
- “The Bucket Graphic” (below) shows the advantage of a resident owned community.
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Ongoing updates:
February 9, 2021:
The Board met with CDI and received a training on effective meeting practices and parliamentary procedure specific to resident owned communities.
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The history: August 2020 – December 2020
At the end of August, Legacy, Inc. made an unsolicited offer to Rick Chaves to buy Great Hill Estates. A week later, on September 9th-10th, Mr. Chaves notified residents with a certified letter that he had entered into this contract with Legacy. He had a legal obligation to do so per the MA state statute. The statute protects residents of manufactured housing communities. You have the right of first refusal, which means you can come together as neighbors, explore the option of resident ownership and, if there’s interest, come to the table as buyers.
On September 20th, Tom Monaghan, the Association President, organized a presentation with the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI). CDI outlined what it would look like to explore the option of resident ownership. Mr. Monaghan also organized a presentation from Legacy, Inc., who explained what it might look like for them to buy the community. A resident-wide vote was then conducted on whether to take the next step in exploring resident ownership. Moving forward with this option required a simple majority of residents. The results were 55% of residents voted yes 34% voted no.
This vote was followed up with a petition. Collecting petition signatures from 51% of resident homeowners is a requirement of the state’s statute to exercise our right of first refusal. Signatures on this petition were collected through the rest of October, with a total of 126 households signing; the threshold needed was 112.
At a meeting on October 18th, a new Board of Directors was formed to specifically look into resident ownership. This new Board was needed to reflect the change from a social Association to a business Association. Nine people volunteered. The new Board approved by unanimous vote amendments to the Association’s Articles of Incorporation that allow the Association to negotiate a purchase of the community on behalf of members. A purchase would need to be approved by 71% of members, after all the necessary research and due diligence have been completed so that every knows what the Association would be buying, and the condition of the community.
By the end of October, the Board had not seen the Purchase and Sales Agreement between Mr. Chaves and Legacy, Inc. This document was needed so that the Board could draft its own Agreement, with equivalent terms, and enter into contract with Mr. Chaves. Entering into a contract is important because you get access to things (records, bills, ability to do due diligence). There’s a clause in the contract that lets the Association get out of it if a majority of residents vote no at the end of the due diligence research period.
Without this Purchase and Sales Agreement, the Association could not move forward. The Board hired an attorney to file a lawsuit against Mr. Chaves to allow the residents to exercise their right of first refusal. This lawsuit slows down the process, while the Association waits for its day in court. In the interim, at the end of November, the Board delivered Member Agreements with a cover letter to each household. Signing up as a member allows you to vote in all Association matters and shows there’s interest in exploring the option of resident ownership.
