The Washington times., 1920-03-27

The cooperative ownership OF
apartments by the tenants residing
in the building as a means of solv-
ing the pressing high rent problem,
presented exclusively TO the Wash
ington public In last Saturdays
Times, has met with widespread
favor throughout the city among
builders, realtors. and tenants.
The Allan u. Walker Company.
which has been working on such
plan for sometime, announces this
week that such a plan will be put
into immediate operation by that
concern. The Walker Plan" Is an
Improvement, In many ways, upon the
methods followed with such success
recently In New York. Philadelphia,
and Chicago. 1t Is the first concrete
plan to be formulated In WASH ng-
ton by any realty organization. and
it's operation will be watched with
interest
boon To Tenants.
All cooperative ownership plans
are based on the idea that the tenants
occupying an apartment shall pur-
chase the building jointly. employ a
real estate firm or agent to manage II
and collect the rentals, and fix a scale
OF rents that shall be merely sus-
tanning with no profit TO anyone.
1t Is readily seen that as quickly
as the building Is paid for the only
rentals to be pand by the owner
tenants will be nominal sums to take
care OF the upkeep of the building.
The scheme IL especially adapted
ITO meet the needs OF the tenant OF
average means. The man with ap-
proximately $4,000 to invest = can
buy" an apartment which will cost
him approximately $50 monthly in
! rental for a period OF eight or ten
years. and considerably smaller
monthly sum thereafter.
There are a number of co-opera-
lively owned apartments in New
York, but these have usually been
confined TO buildings owned by peo-
pie OF large means. who take perpet-
ual leases upon their apartments,
! and when not occupying them either
sublet or pay the rent themselves.
This scheme IL not applicable to peo-
pie OF moderate means, who frequent
iy are compelled to move because OF
| change of employment and other
reasons and cannot afford to assume
the responsibility of possibly paying
rent in two places.
Preventing Deterioration.
To meet this situation and at the
same time prevent a possible de-
terioration in the tenancy OF the
building, the lease OF the apartment
| and the ownership OF the building
have been kept separate in the CO.
operative ownership plan followed in
New York except that in the first
instance the tenant and the owner
are the same person. Literally. each
| tenant is his own landlord the
equity in any building above the
mortgage, usually savings bank or
insurance company mortgage OF long
| term, is capitalized by the formation
| OF a corporation to take title to the
| building The tenant-owners each
| subscribe for an amount OF stock IN
| proportion to the size Of the apart
ment which they occupy. In other
| words, the tenant of a four-rooin
apartment would not be required TO
purchase as much stock as the ties
ant OF a fiveroom apartment and so
on.
| The tenant-owner al the same time
| that he purchases the stock leases
an apartment at the current rent. re-
movable from year to year indefinite
~ at the will of the tenant. but with
the option that, upon notice before
| July | in any year. he may SURRENDER
his lease the following October i.
Management Of Building.
| The corporation of tenant-owners'
of which each tenant is a director