Dear Community Association Advocate,

In August, Members of Congress take a recess from Washington, D.C. and many spend time in their district (local) office. We would like to encourage you to schedule a brief meeting with your Members of Congress during the 2013 August Recess.

There are three issues we would like you to discuss with your Members of Congress.

1. Community Association Living Overview – A community association is a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners association.  There are currently      more than 325,000 community associations in the U.S. housing more than 62.5 million Americans.  Community associations are responsible for municipal services; including trash removal, street maintenance and lighting, and community landscaping.  Community associations are governed by neighbors and are often misunderstood.  According to research, 9 out of 10 homeowners are satisfied with their community association.
2. Housing Finance Reform – Consumers need access to a wide variety of mortgage products to meet their individual housing and budget needs, and aspects of the existing system that provide mortgage choice and pricing stability must be retained. A new housing finance system must provide all creditworthy households opportunity to access mortgage credit, including households in community associations.
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – For decades, community associations have been denied  equal access to federal disaster recovery assistance. Residents of community associations should be treated equally with all other taxpayers.  Owners in community associations pay the same taxes and are served by the same municipal emergency services such as fire and police that are provided for residents living outside of associations. Owners in community  associations must likewise receive the same federal benefits as all other residents within a local jurisdiction in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Please visit CAI’s advocacy center: 2013 August Recess Advocacy Campaign

For a complete CAI U.S. House Advocacy Packet, please visit: Full U.S. House August Recess Advocacy Packet

For a complete CAI U.S. Senate Advocacy Packet, please visit: Full U.S. Senate August Recess Advocacy Packet

You can locate your federal legislators here.

In-person meetings with Members of Congress add tremendous value to CAI’s advocacy process. According to the Congressional Management Foundation, 97% of Members of Congress say that in-person visits to their office influence their decisions on issues they have not already arrived at a firm decision on.    

The August recess is a great opportunity for CAI member advocates to schedule an in-person meeting at their federal legislators’ district offices to talk about issues impacting community associations.

Thank you for advocating for the interests of the 62.5 million residents living in America’s 325,000 community associations.  

Make your voice count!

 Sincerely,

Dawn M. Bauman, CAE

Sr. Vice President, Government Affairs