CAI is hosting its 2025 Congressional Advocacy Summit on Thursday, Nov. 6 in Washington, D.C. CAI’s 2025 Congressional Advocacy Summit is the premier advocacy event of the year for the community association housing model. The Advocacy Summit represents an opportunity to speak with federal lawmakers and their staff face-to-face to help advance CAI’s public policy priorities.
More than 200 CAI advocates will be meeting with more than 125 congressional offices on Capitol Hill to educate and advocate for industry federal legislative priorities and represent the interests of community associations and their residents nationwide.
Here is an overview of the 2025 federal priorities CAI members will be educating members of Congress on during this event:
- HR. 4669 – FEMA Act of 2025: This legislation reverses years of bad public policy by not allowing federal disaster funds to be used to remove debris from private roads and waterways. Under current law, community associations that own their own roads and/or facilities are not afforded the same FEMA recovery resources as other communities even though they pay the same federal taxes. When hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, snowstorms, and other natural disasters leave behind debris, homeowner associations are left without adequate support for cleanup and recovery.
- The bill creates access to FEMA resources via the local municipality for debris removal from privately owned roads within homeowners associations to ensure access in and out of the community for public safety. It would provide equal access to disaster recovery services for all homeowners paying local, state, and federal taxes. As taxpayers and citizens, community association homeowners deserve assistance and proactive help from the federal government in disaster recovery.
- CAI Ask of Congressional Offices: Support CAI’s amendment language in Section 107 of H.R. 4669 to align with H.R. 834, the Disaster Assistance Fairness Act, which creates access to individual household FEMA funds for repair or replacement of essential major common area elements and facilities such as boiler rooms, elevators, roofs, etc. While Section 107 is not as comprehensive as the Disaster Assistance Fairness Act, it creates a foundation for a new, fairer system of disaster assistance including community associations.
- S.2651 – ROAD to Housing Act of 2025: Key components of this legislation include establishing a new five-year pilot program at HUD to offer grants and forgivable loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners and qualifying small landlords. The grants would holistically address home repair needs and health hazards, expand investment in new affordable housing projects, and reduce regulatory restrictions that have constrained the construction of new communities. CAI supports efforts to increase access to affordable and stable housing for all people, including those who choose to rent or own homes in community associations, so the dream of homeownership can become a reality.
- CAI Ask of Congressional Offices: Support and include CAI and National Association of Housing Cooperatives’ critical amendments to this legislation, which would allow a first-time buyer for a condominium, housing cooperative, or HOA unit to use HUD counseling tailored to association finances, qualify for a small dollar mortgage product, and receive a fair appraisal. Additionally, an existing association planning major repairs would be allowed to access programs that recognize condominiums as eligible housing, reducing the need for special assessments.
- S. 459/H.R. 1095 – Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act: This legislation would prohibit associations nationwide from restricting the installation of HAM radio towers. More than 77.1 million people live in condominiums, homeowners associations, and housing cooperatives nationwide, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research. Governed by private contracts, they are overwhelmingly satisfied in their communities and the ways in which they effectively regulate HAM radio operations. S.459/H.R. 1094 would unjustly usurp these contracts in favor of a nationwide mandate from Washington, D.C.
- CAI Ask of Congressional Offices: Oppose both S. 459/H.R. 1095, community associations work best when residents come together to establish and enforce reasonable rules and policies to govern their communities. CAI opposes federal legislation like S.459/H/R.1094 that restricts a community association from requiring prior approval of radio broadcasting infrastructure.
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Transparency Regarding Lending Eligibility for Associations: Funding through Fannie and Freddie is vital to the financial health and physical safety of communities. A major obstacle is the list of ineligible condo projects that both groups maintain and refuse to share with homeowners and associations. For Fannie Mae, projects may be ineligible due to operating as a hotel or motel, deferred maintenance, inadequate insurance coverage, or a high percentage of units being owned by a single entity. For Freddie Mac, a lack of eligibility can arise from insufficient insurance coverage, structural problems, or other critical deficiencies. Condo projects can be designated as “unavailable for lending” by entities due to effects on the community’s health, safety, and financial integrity, severely restricting access to traditional mortgage financing.
- CAI Ask of Congressional Offices: Encourage modifications to lending requirements related to insurance and urge the Federal Housing Finance Agency to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disclose their ineligible lists.
- Insurance for Community Associations: New data from the Foundation underscores what many homeowners, boards, and community managers are experiencing: higher premiums, fewer coverage options, and more complex compliance requirements, especially in the condominium housing market. While these trends vary by region and property type, they are clearly placing new financial pressures on boards and homeowners when combined with responsibilities for maintaining infrastructure, funding reserves, and meeting lending compliance standards.
- CAI Ask of Congressional Offices: Support policies that help improve access to affordable insurance for community associations.
Find more information on each of CAI’s federal priorities, click here.
To learn more about CAI’s federal priorities for this year’s Advocacy Summit, click here.
If you have any questions about the 2025 CAI Congressional Advocacy Summit, please contact CAI’s Government & Public Affairs team at government@caionline.org.
