Community Associations Institute has endorsed S. 3085, the “Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act of 2012.” The legislation, spearheaded in the U.S. Senate by Senators Robert Menendez (NJ) and Barbara Boxer (CA), will help more homeowners with mortgages greater than the value of their home refinance and lower monthly mortgage payments. The housing and foreclosure crisis has
Thomas C. Martin, Esq. Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee As you may recall from prior editions of this column, common ownership interest associations are simply non-profit corporations. We are organized and exist under various laws which govern how decisions are made. The watchword is autonomy. Recent stories in the news
Noting changes in housing development and modern housing preferences, CAI urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, to recognize community associations as a distinct housing market. More than 60 million Americans live in 314,000 community associations nationwide, representing almost 20 percent of the American population. Writing on behalf of CAI members, Tom Skiba, CAI’s
Thomas C. Martin, Esq. Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee Generally speaking, residential common ownership interest associations are non-profit corporations organized and existing under the laws of their particular state. As such, these corporations are governed by an elected board of directors. The elected board of directors then engages in the
Mr. Dick Pruess, long-time CAI member and chair of California’s Legislative Action Committee, told federal lawmakers that association homeowners suffer when lenders delay foreclosures, allowing delinquent owners to remain in their properties. The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee asked CAI to testify on a plan to sell real estate owned (REO) held by
Thomas C. Martin, Esq. Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee When in doubt – disclose. That is the watchword these days. We often hear about wanting more “transparency” and “disclosure” in government, financial institutions, campaign donors and the like. Regarding our common ownership interest associations, we are working with the legislators
On April 5, the Federal Reserve System issued guidance to banks intended to spur the temporary conversion of Real Estate Owned (REO) to rental property. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve strongly encouraged the sale of REO to investors for use as rental properties. With this new guidance, the Federal Reserve is offering banks the
Thomas C. Martin, Esq. Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee We have all heard of “Lin-Sanity!” Now we have “Legis-Sanity” as the electorate is bombarded with one proposed law after another affecting common ownership interest associations. Our efforts in this regard are geared toward seeking to reduce unfair burdens on our
On March 15, 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued its long awaited final rule on transfer fees. FHFA had proposed a federal regulation which would have banned federally backed mortgages for property in a community association with a deed-based transfer fee. As originally drafted, the proposed rule would have cut-off nearly all mortgage
Thomas C. Martin, Esq.Nowell Amoroso Klein Bierman, P.A., Chair, CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee The 215th New Jersey legislative session has now opened. Many additional laws from the prior session were re-introduced in the new session. As a result, some of the same bills remain in consideration. Importantly, the Community Associations Institute applied vigorously for an
