CAI’s California Legislative Action Committee, CLAC, advocates the interests of more than 45,000 community associations in California and educates legislators about homeowner association living and governance. CLAC’s delegates, appointed by the eight CAI chapters in California, include homeowner volunteers, community association managers and other industry professionals.  Every year CLAC members congregate in Sacramento to advocate on behalf of community associations, and this year, for the first time, CAI’s National partner organized a similar gathering to meet with Congressional leaders as well as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address issues of importance to community associations at the Federal level.

“After having worked on behalf of community associations in California for over 20 years, I was pleased to be able to bring California’s perspective to a national forum,” said Skip Daum, advocate for the California Legislative Action Committee (CLAC).

The intensive advocacy effort focused on the current inability of community associations to access FEMA disaster relief directly and housing reform—specifically, priority liens and uniform rules for lending standards that assist in determining the financial stability of condominiums.  CAI members also shared their perspectives on community manager licensing, electronic voting and flood insurance.

The summit was designed to strengthen the dialog between CAI and federal policy makers.  This was just “one more way CAI continues to find new and significant ways to advocate for its members,” said Pamela Voit, PCAM, Chair of CLAC. “I was pleased to be a part of a great delegation from California.  Federal agencies need to hear from the ‘boots on the ground’ to help them establish policies that truly benefit community associations across America, and that is what each state’s legislative action committee (LAC) can provide.”

Kimberly Lilley, CIRMS, Berg Insurance Agency, CAI-CLAC Treasurer and PR Committee Member can be reached at Kimberly@BergInsurance.com