HOMO — NEIGHBORHOOD COMPACT
DISCUSSION DRAFT — VERSION 0.2

Purpose of this draft
Give neighbors a restrained starting point for discussing shared maintenance. It does not create authority that ownership documents or law do not provide. Do not record, adopt, or rely on it without local legal, financial, insurance, tax, and ownership review.

1. PURPOSE
The group exists only to coordinate and pay for specific property, infrastructure, or services that are genuinely shared. It does not exist to supervise ordinary private life or impose a preferred neighborhood aesthetic.

2. SCOPE
The shared assets and services must be listed by name. Responsibilities outside that written list remain with the property owner, public authority, utility, or other party that actually owns or controls them.

3. AUTHORITY
The group may exercise only authority supported by a lawful agreement, ownership interest, recorded document, contract, or applicable law. A voluntary chapter does not claim power to compel membership, enter property, fine, lien, or enforce private restrictions.

4. MONEY
Every charge must connect to a documented shared cost, reasonable reserve, insurance need, tax, or approved professional service. Budgets show the calculation, payment schedule, bank balance, invoices, and any unpaid obligation in plain language.

5. RECORDS
Current agreements, budgets, invoices, insurance, contracts, decisions, and asset records remain available to participating households. Records should be understandable without specialized software or insider knowledge.

6. DECISIONS
Routine maintenance follows an approved budget. Material new costs, changes in scope, debt, long contracts, or disposal of shared property require advance notice and a documented vote using the threshold the lawful structure requires.

7. PRIVATE PROPERTY
Paint, flags, gardens, lawful vehicles, play equipment, ordinary home use, and personal style are not shared-maintenance issues. Any restriction must be tied to a legitimate shared interest and supported by actual authority, not preference.

8. DISPUTES
Questions begin with the governing documents, ownership record, contract, invoice, or written scope. Neighbors use notice, an opportunity to respond, and proportionate problem solving before escalation. The group does not manufacture penalties to win personal disputes.

9. CHANGES
The compact, scope, and financial arrangement may be changed only through the written process the participants adopt and any process required by law or existing documents. Changes must be circulated before a vote and recorded afterward.

10. ENDING THE ARRANGEMENT
The plan must explain how contracts, funds, records, taxes, insurance, and shared property are handled if the group ends. A voluntary agreement does not pretend to dissolve a recorded entity or obligation.

LOCAL ADAPTATION CHECKLIST
- Identify the legal owners of every shared asset and any easement or access right.
- Confirm whether recorded covenants, an existing corporation, or municipal approvals control the structure.
- Document assessments, taxes, insurance, reserves, vendor obligations, and banking controls.
- Define membership, voting, notices, conflicts, records, succession, and termination.
- Resolve what happens when a household declines to participate or a property transfers.
- Have the final arrangement reviewed by the appropriate local attorney and other specialists.

https://joinhomo.org/compact.html