Jobs change. Families grow. People relocate. An owner who expected to live nearby may eventually find themselves several states away.
With Joynt, moving away does not automatically mean someone has to sell their share or that the group has to change its ownership structure.
The Operating Agreement separates where someone lives from their rights and responsibilities as an owner. An owner can move away and continue owning their share of the property, contributing to expenses, participating in decisions, and using the property.
And if the move eventually makes ownership no longer practical for them, there is already a process in place for selling their share.
Moving away doesn’t change who owns the property.
The Joynt Operating Agreement does not require an owner to live at or near the property.
Simply moving to another city or state does not trigger a sale of that owner’s share, a buyout by the other owners, or a sale of the entire property.
Their ownership continues unless they choose to transfer their ownership interest or another provision of the Operating Agreement applies.
That means a job relocation or other move doesn’t automatically force the group to restructure something that is otherwise working.
Their financial responsibilities continue too.
Moving away does not eliminate an owner’s responsibility for their share of the property’s expenses.
The Operating Agreement establishes an operating budget that accounts for required property expenses, including things like:
- mortgage payments, if applicable
- property taxes and assessments
- insurance
- necessary maintenance and repairs
- HOA assessments
- management and professional expenses
- utilities
Those expenses are allocated among the owners according to the rules in the Operating Agreement, including special allocation rules for mortgage payments when applicable.
If an owner moves away but keeps their ownership share, they remain responsible for the assessments associated with that share.
From the Joynt Operating Agreement
“Each Member shall pay every Assessment levied against their Membership Interest in full and on time, without any deduction or offset.”
So moving away may change someone’s personal relationship with the property, but it does not by itself change the financial commitments they made as an owner.
They can still use the property.
An owner who moves farther away does not automatically lose their property usage rights.
The Operating Agreement provides each ownership interest with the exclusive right to use the property during the periods assigned or reserved for it through Joynt’s Usage Allocation System.
From the Joynt Operating Agreement
“Each Membership Interest shall have the exclusive right to use the Property during each period when the Property has been assigned to it, or reserved by it, under the Usage Allocation System.”
So an owner who moves away could still plan trips back to the property and use their allocated time.
They also have some flexibility if they can’t personally use all of it.
Their time doesn’t necessarily have to go unused.
The Operating Agreement provides options for an owner who isn’t able to personally use an assigned period.
For example, an owner may exchange all or part of their usage rights with another owner. When that happens, the owner receiving the time also takes on the usage-related responsibilities for that period.
From the Joynt Operating Agreement
“A Member may exchange all or any portion of their usage rights with another Member.”
An owner may also allow an Unaccompanied Guest to use the property during their assigned or reserved time, provided the Operating Agreement’s notice requirements are followed. An Unaccompanied Guest is someone who stays overnight when none of the owners or other parties to the agreement are present.
The agreement requires the owner to provide the Management Coordinator with the names and mobile phone numbers of Unaccompanied Guests over age 16 at least 24 hours before the stay.
That gives someone who lives farther away options beyond either personally using every allocated stay or giving up ownership.
Renting may be another option, but only if the group has agreed to allow it.
Moving away does not automatically give an owner the right to rent their time.
The Operating Agreement requires the owners to decide unanimously whether the property may be made available for rental use. The group can choose not to allow rentals, allow individual owners to rent their assigned time under the agreement’s rules, allow group rentals, or permit both types.
If individual rentals have been approved, an owner may offer their assigned or reserved usage for rent through the Rental Management Coordinator and retain the net income or other consideration from that rental, subject to the requirements in the Operating Agreement.
So if someone moves away and expects to use the property less often, renting their time may provide additional flexibility, but only when the group has already approved that type of rental use and the rental follows the agreed process.
Living farther away doesn’t mean they have to manage everything remotely.
One of the practical concerns about moving away is often:
“How am I supposed to help take care of a property from hundreds or thousands of miles away?”
The Operating Agreement already establishes a Management Coordinator responsible for important property-management functions.
Among other responsibilities, the Management Coordinator is required to:
- arrange for professional cleaning and inspection
- facilitate Necessary Repairs
- hire qualified people to perform repair work
- arrange payment of property expenses from the group’s funds
- maintain records of receipts and expenditures
- keep the property-owning LLC in good standing with governmental authorities
- arrange preparation and filing of the LLC’s tax returns
The agreement also specifically prevents individual owners, other than the Management Coordinator, from simply arranging repairs or alterations on their own without the required approval.
That structure is useful whether an owner lives five minutes away or five states away.
They still get a say in group decisions.
Moving away does not by itself reduce an owner’s voting power.
Under the Operating Agreement, voting power is generally tied to the owner’s Percentage Interest, not how close they live to the property or how frequently they personally use it.
From the Joynt Operating Agreement
“In general, each Membership Interest’s vote shall be weighted in proportion to its Percentage Interest…”
Most decisions are handled through the voting system provided through Joynt, so owners do not have to physically be together to participate.
As long as the owner remains in good standing under the agreement, moving away does not by itself take away their ability to participate in decisions about the property.
What if moving away changes how much they want to own or use?
This is where moving and selling become two different questions.
An owner may initially move away and decide to keep everything exactly as it is. Later, they may decide that traveling back to the property no longer makes sense or that they would rather put their money somewhere else.
If that happens, the Operating Agreement provides a defined process for transferring their ownership interest.
An owner who wants to accept an offer to purchase all or part of their ownership interest generally must follow the transfer procedures in Article 4. Among other requirements, when the interest has been advertised for sale and the owner wishes to accept an offer, the other owners receive an opportunity to purchase it at the offered price.
If no owner timely exercises that purchase right, the selling owner can generally proceed with the outside sale, subject to the other transfer requirements in the agreement.
That means the group doesn’t have to invent an exit process just because someone's circumstances have changed.
The other owners also have protections when a new person may be coming in.
Selling to someone outside the existing ownership group isn't simply a private decision between the departing owner and a buyer.
For certain voluntary transfers, the Operating Agreement requires the transferring owner to provide the other owners with information about the prospective new owner’s financial qualifications.
A proposed transfer may be rejected if the agreement’s Right of Rejection requirements are satisfied. Generally, that requires valid Rejection Notices from two or more owners whose combined Percentage Interests equal or exceed 25%. If there are only two ownership interests, the other owner can reject the proposed transfer by providing a valid Rejection Notice within the required period. A valid rejection must state a reasonable basis for disapproving the prospective new owner.
This gives someone a path to move on without leaving the remaining owners with no protection over who may join their ownership group.
A transfer may also require the lender’s consent.
If the property has a loan secured by it, changing ownership may involve another consideration.
Under the Operating Agreement, if the loan documents require the lender’s consent for a proposed voluntary transfer, the transfer cannot proceed unless the lender consents or the owners unanimously approve allowing the transfer without that consent.
From the Joynt Operating Agreement
“If a proposed voluntary transfer of all or any part of a Membership Interest would require the consent of the holder of a Company Mortgage under the terms of the loan documents, then… the transfer shall be prohibited unless either: (i) the holder of the Company Mortgage consents to the transfer; or (ii) the decision to allow the transfer without such consent receives Unanimous Approval.”
In consumer terms, a “Company Mortgage” simply means a loan secured by the shared property.
Importantly, this provision applies when there is a transfer of ownership. Moving to another location, by itself, is not a transfer.
What if moving away eventually leads someone to want the entire property sold?
Moving away alone does not give an owner an immediate, unconditional right to force a sale of the entire property.
The Operating Agreement has separate rules governing when the entire property may be sold.
For example, during the first five years after the LLC acquires the property, a voluntary sale of the entire property generally requires Unanimous Approval. Beginning five years after acquisition, the agreement allows a sale with Supermajority Approval, and beginning ten years after acquisition, with Majority Approval. There are also specific circumstances in which an individual owner may trigger a sale, including after making a diligent and sustained effort for at least one year to sell their entire ownership interest at an asking price no greater than their Percentage Interest of the property’s Fair Market Value. Special rules also apply when there are only two ownership interests.
So there is a path if circumstances change dramatically, but moving away itself does not automatically put the whole property up for sale.
The important part: a move doesn’t force an immediate decision.
Someone relocating can feel like a major change for a group of people who bought property together.
But it doesn't necessarily have to become an ownership crisis.
Under the Joynt Operating Agreement, an owner can move away and remain an owner. Their financial responsibilities continue. Their usage and voting rights continue. The property-management structure remains in place.
And if the move eventually leads them to decide that ownership no longer works for them, the agreement already provides a process for transferring their share.
Life can change without requiring the group to figure out everything from scratch.
