Welcome to Ungated

Last week, Nevada Community Associations had a noteworthy victory. After a groundswell of homeowner complaints, industry concerns and some furious grassroots lobbying, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons took a bold move and vetoed a sweeping bill that would have greatly expanded the state’s regulation of community associations.

 

The legislation, which passed both chambers nearly unanimously, would have:

 

• Allowed unit owners to alter the facade of their unit, even if it was a common element of the association.
• Regulated association newsletters, requiring them to print opposing views without limitation or ability to edit out inappropriate content.  
• Prohibited transfer fees assessed when a unit or home is sold. 
• Banned association from enforcing speed limits and other moving violations on association roads, endangering public safety.  
• Limited a board’s ability to protect and build association reserve accounts by only allowing reserve assessments in a limited set of circumstances.

 

In the end, the effective efforts of all parts of the CAI team were able to convince the governor to veto the bill. The Nevada Chapter, the Nevada LAC and CAI’s national staff stepped up with alerts and talking points on the bill’s substantial negatives. Association volunteer leaders also worked diligently to get the word out to homeowners. It made a difference. On Friday, June 15, the governor vetoed the bill. 

 

Of course the challenge is just beginning. The bill sponsors have vowed to overturn the governor’s veto when they reconvene in 2009. CAI’s Nevada members will be working hard to build bridges between sessions. In the meantime, I congratulate them on the success of their efforts.

 

 

 

One of the frequent criticisms we face is that CAI does not support homeowners and is beholden to and run by the some small cabal of attorneys, community managers, demonic board members, or (insert your favorite group to hate here) for their personal benefit. 

Of course this couldn't be further from the truth, but as the Soviets proved for over 70 years, the "big lie" actually works better than the small and inconsequential lie.  They demonstrated that if you say something often enough and powerfully enough, and don't allow any deviation from the message or alternative viewpoints, eventually people will come to accept it as truth or "pravda".  That is the tactic we face with some of the folks who would abolish every association tomorrow and destroy trillions of dollars of equity in the process just because they don't like the idea of community associations and/or how their particular association is run.

The truth (which is much more prosaic and boring) is that CAI's governance, public policies, and programs are set by a broad-based group of volunteers including homeowners, managers, and a wide variety of business partners.  Each of these groups contributes to and participates in the leadership of CAI.  In fact, one of our most frequent challenges is finding consensus among this very diverse group of members, particularly on critical and controversial public policies.  But when we do, it can be a very powerful statement, because it brings together many voices in a strong message. 

A quick example: Recently the Colorado Legislative Action Committee was successful in supporting the "Homeowner Protection Act of 2007".  This important bill not only protects and maintains the rights of every association in Colorado, but it also protects every single individual homeowner in the state as regards construction defects in their home and their ability to have problems corrected in a timely manner.  So how is it that we don't care about homeowners?  And this is just one example in one state.

The reality is that CAI's legislative activities, educational programs, and books and other reference materials support strong, effectively managed, and fiscally efficient associations.  By making associations better and stronger we help make communities better places to live, ensure boards are responsive to all their residents, and help preserve community value and values. 

Our annual CEO-MC Retreat is coming up in just over 2 weeks.  If you haven't registered yet you probably should hurry as there are only 30 slots remaining.