CAI hosts 2022 Virtual Advocacy Summit

In October, 200 condominium and homeowner association advocates met with Capitol Hill legislators and staff in the first CAI virtual advocacy summit.

Participants advocated for the more than 74 million Americans living and working in community associations, commonly referred to as homeowners associations, condominium communities, and housing cooperatives.

As the leading international authority in community association living, CAI’s government and public affairs team connected 200 homeowners and industry professionals from 27 states with congressional offices to advance CAI’s legislative priorities. Advocates participated in more than 40 meetings with 75 house and senate offices from Hawaii to Massachusetts to discuss financing condominium building repairs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac condominium and housing cooperative lending rules, and disaster assistance in community associations.

In addition, CAI provided legislators and staff with new education and resources detailing the community association housing model and its impact on the U.S. housing market. According to the latest data from the Foundation for Community Association Research, community associations are estimated to become the majority form of housing in the U.S. by 2040. The number of new condominium communities and homeowners associations is expected to increase by 5,000 by the end of 2022.

“With one in four Americans living in community associations today and thousands of new communities being built each year, we strongly believe that lawmakers must consider the impacts on communities on a wide range of policy issues—from mortgage lending to natural disaster relief,” says Thomas M. Skiba, CAE, CAI’s chief executive officer.

“When two-thirds of homeowners nationwide say that community guidelines protect and enhance their property values, and that safe and attractive neighborhoods are top benefits of condominium and homeowners association living, it’s important for legislators to understand how these communities set the tone for the rest of the country as preferred places to live,” says Dawn M. Bauman, CAE, CAI’s senior vice president for government and public affairs.

CAI’s 2023 National Legislative Trend Predictions

Based on results from CAI’s most current state legislative action committee (LAC) survey results, CAI’s Government and Public Affairs team is currently predicting the following trends for 2023 state legislative sessions:

• Reserve studies and funding.

• Building inspections and maintenance.

• Response to threats of violence against managers, management, and association boards.

• Community values: i.e., solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, landscaping requirements, etc.

• Amendment process to remove discriminatory restrictive covenants.

For more information about CAI’s advocacy priorities, visit www.caionline.org/Advocacy or follow @CAIAdvocacy on Twitter.