Nels Atha visited Capitol Hill to meet with the offices of some of California’s members of Congress to discuss federal legislation affecting community associations, including Representative Maxine Waters (CA 43rd District) and Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein.
While the Davis-Sterling Act provides for the majority of legislation presiding over California community associations, federal housing legislation can have a very impactful influence on California communities. Taking the time to educate our legislators about what community associations are and how they function, as well as giving a voice to their constituents that belong to community associations, can have a powerful influence on the way federal legislation affects the communities we serve. A few of the federal legislative priorities that we focused on at the summit were Housing Finance Reform, Disaster Relief for HOAs, and the National Flood Insurance Program. Below is an overview of how these issues are affecting community associations:
Housing Finance Reform
After the housing crisis of 2008, Congress has been tasked with reforming the housing finance system. In 2016, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) was passed with the goal of increasing access to FHA loans. In practice however, the number of associations with FHA approval has decreased. According to CAI, only 6% of condo associations have FHA approval. The department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a proposed rule in 2016 to make FHA approval more attainable by condominium associations but has not approved it.
Check out this post for a legislative update by a local industry leader in the FHA condo approval process.
You can learn more from CAI: