Considerations for joining flying club

Get full disclosure on all of the club's financial issues at the moment.
The club that I joined was being sued by a former employee who had been
injured at work. That much I knew before I joined. What I did not know was
that the sitting president had neglected to pay the bill for the worker's
compensation insurance, and that the club would have to fund this issue all
on its own. I also did not know that the club had stopped paying rent on
its hangar for more than a year before I signed up. I also did not know
that the "refundable" deposit that all new members payed to join was getting
sent right out the door to pay the back rent on said hangar.

Now that I'm in, and have already paid these "fees", and "deposits", and a
few other "assessments", I feel compelled to make a go of things and am even
on the board. We are trying to clean things up as much as we can, since all
of us will lose money if we let the club fail. But I do dearly wish that I
had known these things before I signed up.

The best advice is to talk to people who have been there a while, but who
are not involved in the day-to-day running of the club. Ask them how things
are going. If you can, track down some people who have recently left the
club.


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On 9/13/04 5:48 PM, Geoffrey Barnes wrote the following:
Get full disclosure on all of the club's financial issues at the moment.
snip
All that he said, plus get and read the bylaws. Get and read the
insurance policy or policies. Get and read the tax return. Make sure
you understand what is required of you currency, dues, assessments,
etc. Find out how frequently the club has made assessments in the past.

Understand the reality of selling your membership: Club sells it? you
sell it? what price? what is the average marketing period? etc.

Clubs are a great thing but you are entering into a significant legal
relationship and need to know the details of it.