Thomas C. Martin, Esq.
Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee
Despite the summer heat wave, the Legislature in Trenton remains busy with all manner of bills being proposed, debated and voted upon in various committees.
The Legislative Action Committee of the Community Associations Institute has been tracking and monitoring a number of bills to make sure the voice of the membership is heard in Trenton. Of particular concern is when a bill is proposed that appears not to directly address or affect the membership only to see that bill eventually change into legislation that ends up having a significant impact on our Associations.
Currently, we are closely watching a number of legislative initiates related to a wide range of issues. For example, a proposal in the State Senate would create certain new mandates for high-rise developments occupied primarily by senior citizens. Sensible requirements for safety and security are important. The key is to make every effort to watch legislation and follow it to make sure it does not become amended so many times that the nature and essence of a good bill becomes gratuitously expanded and in the end counterproductive. As we are sure you can understand there are any number of differing groups involved in the overall legislative process.
Additional laws we are closely monitoring include Assembly Bill A2592. This law is still in the committee stage. It is an attempt to allocate costs of compliance with certain Federal Home Loan mortgages to Common Ownership Interest Associations. This proposal raises concerns for our membership. As a result, we are working with the State Assembly to consider alternatives, if possible, which would be less onerous to our membership or to remove this potential new burden entirely.
On the other hand Senate Bill S1740 is a welcome proposal which allows municipalities to require mortgage companies to generally maintain units during the foreclosure process. This bill was introduced this past spring and is committee. We are working to help foster this bill as we fell it will serve as a significant benefit for our membership to require the mortgage holder to at least maintain the unit. The reality is the foreclosure process can take years. There is no reason why the mortgage holder should not have to maintain the unit during this time. After all, this preserves the mortgage company’s collateral and it addresses the equity of the Association as a whole – in particular the adjacent units or homes as the case may be.
Another bill recently introduced, Senate Bill S1828 generally seeks to regulate the method, manner and construction of dwelling units in connection with the Barrier Free Sub-Building Code. We are monitoring that bill.
We are also working proactively to consider introducing our own legislative initiatives. On such proposal on the table is to work out a solution with the Legislature on how best to make a lender contribute and pay maintenance fees during what can be a years long foreclosure process. There can be no guarantees on any of these issues but it seems inequitable that our Community Association have to, in essence, carry and pay for units in foreclosure as that foreclosure process seems to drag along for an extended period of time.
