New Jersey LAC Addresses Foreclosure Issue

The NJ Legislative Action Committee (LAC) is watching legislation recently proposed in the State Senate and State Assembly. Letters detailing CAI’s position and recommended amendments have been sent to each bill’s respective sponsors.

S-2777, the “New Jersey Foreclosure Fairness Act,” is aimed at imposing additional foreclosure notice requirements and amending the “Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act.”

CAI-NJ Position Paper to Senator Ron Rice

A-2493, the ”New Jersey Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,” seeks to eliminate abusive practices in the collection of consumer debts and promote fair debt collection.

CAI-NJ Position Paper to Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli

• NEW! Report Details CAI State Advocacy: One of the core missions of CAI is to ensure a fair and effective operating environment for our communities, managers and business partners. To achieve these goals, CAI is actively engaged in the public policy arena through active lobbying in state houses across the country. More than 300 volunteer member advocates work as part of 30 state-based legislative action committees to advocate on behalf of community associations. CAI has issued its first ever legislative activities report, a state-by-state look at how these member-advocates work to protect community association autonomy and forward a pro-community agenda.  Access The Report

• MORTGAGE MODIFICATION LEGISLATION DIES IN SENATE - UPDATED 5/1/2009:  The Senate voted 45 to 51 on April 30, 2009 to reject a proposal to allow homeowners to petition a bankruptcy court to rewrite their mortgage obligations. Proponents of the legislation argued that the record number of foreclosures and their drag on housing prices could be mitigated by creating a process to keep delinquent homeowners in their properties by using the courts to modify their payment to a certain percentage of their income. Opponents countered that the legislation would increase lending costs and reward purchasers who borrowed too much money or entered into nonconventional interest-only or 100% financed mortgages.  The legislation had passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives in March as H.R. 1106. CAI had strong reservations about the House version of the legislation. The broad definition of which payments would be subject to revision by the courts was poorly defined and, as written, could have allowed judges to modify a homeowner’s obligation to the community association. Concerns were also raised about the treatment of past-due association assessments/liens and the requirement that debtors, like an association, make regular legal filings to protect their collection rights while a homeowner was in a modification program. These concerns were taken to the U.S. Senate and outlined in a letter to Senator Durbin, sponsor of the Senate legislation.  In the Senate, the Durbin version of the bill addressed many of the concerns raised by CAI. The Senate language limited modification authority to mortgages and required those mortgages to meet certain eligibility criteria. Additionally, association liens and assessments would not have fallen under the modification authority. These changes are in large part the result of the engagement, through letters and phone calls, by CAI members across the country. Although the changes to the legislation addressed the concerns of CAI, banks, credit unions and financial and business institutions continued to oppose the bill.  What CAI and its members were able to achieve was recognition by Senate leaders of the unique role community associations play in the housing markets and how the assessments paid by homeowners serve to maintain property values, meet established homeowner expectations and lower burdens on state and local governments. Additional benefits to associations and homeowners will come from the explicit recognition that assessments need to be considered as a factor in determining a sustainable payment for homeowners.   As housing issues are likely to linger, debate will continue on foreclosures and foreclosure alternatives. CAI will continue to work to engage key Congressional leaders on the unique, critical and positive benefits common-interest communities provide to 60 million homeowners, local housing markets, municipalities and the nation at large.
• H.R. 1106: Helping Families Save their Home Act of 2009 - UPDATED 3/6/2009:  On Thursday, March 5, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1106 with some technical amendments by a vote of 234 to 191. Although the concerns raised by CAI and others have not yet been fully resolved, your efforts in expressing concern have helped us get Congress’s attention, and members of the Judiciary Committee have committed to work with us to clarify and address these issues. CAI continues to have concerns that the legislation will have a negative impact on associations in states with priority assessment liens, and that the grant of authority to bankruptcy courts, absent clearer direction and limitations, may be used to modify a homeowner’s assessment obligations to his/her community association. Again, thanks to your efforts, Congress is now aware of these issues and we will continue to work with legislators as the bill moves into the Senate.  CAI will continue you to update you on developments on this legislation through Ungated, the blog of CAI Chief Executive Officer Tom Skiba, and in the Heads-Up section of CAI’s web site.

• 'Predatory Towing Prevention Act' - Governor Corzine signed this law, which may affect your community, on October 24, 2007. Click the link for a copy of the chapter law (193, PL 2007).
• Solar Panel Chapter Law - Governor Corzine signed this bill on August 21, 2007, limiting a community association's ability to inhibit the placement of solar panels in the community. Click the link for a copy of the chapter law.
• Capital Contributions - On September 10, 2007, Governor Corzine signed the law clarifying the process for the imposition and collection of a capital contribution upon the resale or transfer of property in a condominium. Click the link for a copy of the chapter law. 
• HR42:  Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 - Passed by Both House and Senate. read more
• CAI-NJ Legislative Resource Center - links to sites containing information pertinent to New Jersey legislation and regulations.

CAI-NJ...In the Media

• The Times Article:  'Protecting the Common Interest'
  Click here for the complete article