What happens to my membership when I sell my property?

**Membership follows the lot, not the person.** The covenants make membership a consequence of owning a lot, and the easement of enjoyment in the common properties is attached to the title and passes with it.

**When it ends and begins.** Your membership ends the day your property is sold. The buyer's membership begins on the property the day they supply the office with an **executed deed transfer document** showing ownership.

**So tell the office.** The buyer's membership does not switch on by itself. Until the office has the executed deed, there is nothing on record showing who now owns the lot — which affects ID cards, amenity access, mailings and the assessment roster.

**Voting eligibility is recorded separately.** For meetings, the By-Laws define members of record by the Association's records **based on the records of the Clare County Register of Deeds**, as of a date the Board sets. If you are buying close to an annual meeting, that record date is what governs whether you can vote.

**Money does not transfer cleanly, and this catches people out.**

- **The lien stays with the lot.** An unpaid assessment is a continuing lien on the property. A buyer takes the lot with the lien on it.
- **The personal debt stays with the seller.** The covenants say the personal obligation remains the obligation of the person who owed it, and does **not** pass to a successor in title unless expressly assumed.
- **There is no proration.** The covenants state that no adjustments or prorations are made. The full year is charged against the lot.

**Practical advice.** Settle the assessment balance before closing and handle the year's assessment between buyer and seller at closing, as you would property taxes. Any owner may demand a **written certificate** from the Association stating whether assessments are paid, and that certificate is conclusive evidence of what it states.

*Source: Restrictive Covenants, Article III, Section 1(a), Article IV, Section 1, and Article V, Sections 7 and 9; By-Laws (Revised 2021), Section 5.3; Board of Directors position on transfer of membership.*