When people say the co-op is dead, they are misrepresenting facts by referring to a March 31st deadline that has passed. What they don’t tell you is that the Co-op Committee successfully met that deadline weeks earlier, so the date is actually meaningless.
March 31st was when the National Cooperative Bank asked for proof that the majority of the residents wanted to protect their homes and join a co-op. The NCB now has that proof and have begun due diligence.
Here’s what our lawyer, Jeff Streiffer has to say about our progress:
I am part of the legal team at Goldfarb & Lipman, LLP, that has been helping the Franciscan Resident Advisory Committee (FRAC) realize its vision of cooperative resident ownership for the Franciscan Mobile Home Park. The residents at the park have been on this path for almost 20 years. Goldfarb & Lipman joined the effort more recently, in the fall of 2018. But in these last couple of years, the cooperative effort has advanced tremendously and continues to move forward. The hard-working volunteers at FRAC asked if I would contribute a few words to the newsletter to update residents on how the situation is progressing. There are four main areas of activity that I want to highlight.
Resident Sign-up, Outreach, and Education: FRAC continues to answer questions and get people signed up for membership in the cooperative. COVlD-19 has posed some challenges but Precinct Captains are available by phone and email, with additional information available online at franciscan.coop. A large enough number of residents have signed up that FRAC is moving forward with environmental and property condition reports required by the National Cooperative Bank and with engaging a surveyor. But FRAC would love to see even more sign-ups! If you have questions, it‘s not too late to get answers and join.
Self-Governance Documents: FRAC is in the final stages of drafting the Bylaws that will be the internal roadmap for how the member-residents will govern themselves and the park. The draft Bylaws are the product of many hours of study and review by the Bylaws and Rules Committee working in collaboration with Goldfarb & Lipman. They are designed to provide for democratic, fair, and transparent governance of the members, by the members, and for the members. Moving forward, verified FRAC members will be able to vote on whether to adopt the Bylaws and convert FRAC into a limited equity housing cooperative.
Planning for the Vote: The FRAC board is moving forward with planning the vote on conversion. The vote will involve two main pieces. First, a vote to adopt the revised Bylaws and, second, to elect new board members to the expanded FRAC board. Qualifications for board nominations and the recommended Bylaws will be distributed, voters will be verified, ballots will be distributed, and the resident homeowner members will have 30 days to return their ballots, after which the election results will be announced at the FRAC annual meeting this summer.
Coordination with LlNC, Daly City, and the National Cooperative Bank: Goldfarb & Lipman has been stepping up its communication with LlNC‘s attorney, has reached out to the Daly City Attorney to continue working through the regulatory process, and has submitted on behalf of the National Cooperative Bank requests to LINC for information necessary for the Bank to do its underwriting and due diligence on the loan. As the COVlD-19 situation stabilizes, our progress in these areas should accelerate.
We at Goldfarb & Lipman are pleased to be a part of this historic effort by the residents of the Franciscan to take control of their Park. There is still much still to do, but FRAC is moving forward! If you have any questions, please reach out to your Precinct Captains.
Jeff Streiffer, Senior Counsel
Goldfarb & Lipman, LLP
Oakland — Los Angeles — San Diego