In September, CAI members from across the country will come together in Washington, D.C., to ensure the voice of the community association housing model is heard where federal policy is made. CAIโs 2026 Congressional Advocacy Summit provides a unique opportunity for community association board members, community managers, business partners, and other industry stakeholders to meet directly with members of Congress and their staff to discuss the federal issues that affect the more than 78.1 million Americans living in homeowners associations, condominiums, and housing cooperatives.
By sharing firsthand experiences and real-world perspectives, advocates help federal lawmakers better understand how proposed federal legislation and regulations impact communities nationwide, reinforcing the importance of informed, practical policymaking that supports thriving community associations.
CAIโs Federal Legislative Action Committee and government and public affairs staff are thrilled to announce 2026 federal legislative priorities that will be presented to members of Congress in September:
FEMA: Debris Removal Equity for Community Associations. CAI members will be requesting members of Congress support and cosponsor H.R. 4669 โ FEMA Act of 2025 and H.R. 9159 โ Protect Our Homes Act. Both bills would improve disaster recovery and resilience for community associations by modernizing federal disaster assistance and expanding access to recovery resources. The FEMA act streamlines disaster response, strengthens mitigation programs, and improves access to federal assistance for disaster survivors. The Protect Our Homes Act would establish a Small Business Administration disaster loan program specifically for homeowners associations to repair damaged common areas and invest in mitigation measures that reduce future disaster risks. Collectively, these bills help communities recover more quickly, rebuild more resiliently, and better protect residents and shared infrastructure recovering from future disasters.
Condominium Safety: Making Condos Safer and Affordable Act. CAI members will be requesting members of Congress support and cosponsor H.R. 9569 โ Making Condos Safer and Affordable Act. The bill seeks to expand access to federally backed financing for condominium associations and condominium unit owners to fund critical structural repairs and safety improvements. The legislation authorizes FHA insurance for certain condominium rehabilitation loans and enables individual unit owners to obtain federally insured loans to help pay special assessments for required repairs. By increasing access to affordable financing, the bill helps community associations complete essential maintenance, comply with evolving building safety standards, and preserve the long-term safety, affordability, and financial stability of condominium communities.
Corporate Transparency Act: Repeal of the Act. CAI members will be requesting member of Congress support H.R. 425 and S.100 โ Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, which would fully repeal the Corporate Transparency Act. CAI continues to seek an exemption for community association boards required to file beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the act. This bill will fully repeal the act and these burdensome administrative requirements on association boards.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Condominium Lender Questionnaire Updates: Implementation Delay. In March, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued updated condominium lender questionnaires to improve financial planning, reserve funding awareness, transparency, and long-term resilience in condominium communities. However, CAI is concerned that the scope, pace, and operational impact of the recent changes, including the elimination of streamlined limited reviews, increased reserve funding requirements, and new reserve study implementation expectations, may unintentionally raise costs for borrowers and existing owners, reduce lender participation, and limit financing availability for otherwise qualified purchasers and financially stable communities. CAI members will be requesting members of Congress meet with staff at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHFA to urge a one-year delay of implementation of these changes effective in the coming months.
Amateur Radio: Reasonable Regulations. CAI members will be requesting members of Congress oppose H.R. 1094 and S. 459 โ Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act, which would fully prohibit condominium associations from reasonably regulating where amateur (HAM) radio antennas are placed in common areas on condominium buildings. Community associations work best when residents come together to establish and enforce reasonable rules and policies to govern their communities. CAI opposes federal legislation that restricts a community association from requiring prior approval of radio broadcasting infrastructure.
Housing Affordability for Community Associations. CAI members will educate members of Congress on the importance of housing affordability for Americans living and working in community associations. CAI supports a balanced approach that expands access to homeownership while protecting the long-term financial health of community associations. Housing affordability requires more than simply building additional homes, it also requires policies that ensure existing communities remain financially sustainable and well maintained. CAI supports flexible solutions that allow state and local governments, community associations, and stakeholders to address their unique needs rather than relying on one-size-fits-all mandates.
Insurance Affordability. CAI members will educate members of Congress on the importance of access to affordable insurance for community associations. CAI support policies that help improve access to affordable insurance for community associations. New data from the Foundation for Community Association Research 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.
Federal policy decisions have a direct and lasting impact on the millions of Americans who live, work, and serve in community associations. CAIโs 2026 Congressional Advocacy Summit empowers CAI members to bring their expertise, experience, and perspectives directly to the policymakers shaping those decisions. By participating, advocates help ensure that Congress understands the unique needs of community associations and the practical implications of proposed legislation. Whether you are a first-time participant or a seasoned advocate, your voice can help advance policies that strengthen communities nationwide.
Join us in September to make an impact on Capitol Hill and help shape a stronger future for the community association housing model. Learn more and register here today.
Of those priorities, three concern me most as a homeowner.
โ ๏ธ ๐ก๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฎ: ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง
CAI supports exempting community associations from federal beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐’ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐?
โ ๏ธ ๐ก๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ: ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ
Nearly 3 in 4 association-governed communities have underfunded reserves.
Stronger lending requirements create independent financial scrutiny. Requirements involving reserves, insurance, maintenance and structural conditions can identify problems before they become deferred maintenance, major special assessments or financial crises for homeowners.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ?
โ ๏ธ ๐ก๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฒ: ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ “๐ฆ๐๐๐-๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ก๐๐”
CAI supports preserving HOA self-governance, opposes federal actions it believes interfere with that self-governance, and supports keeping primary authority over HOA regulation at the state level.
That concerns me.
Many states are failing homeowners. Meaningful HOA oversight is often limited or nonexistent, leaving homeowners to hire an attorney and go to court to enforce even basic rights.
And not every legal issue involving an HOA is exclusively a matter of state law. Some HOA disputes involve federal law and federal protections.
๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ท๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐.
State-level failure cannot become a barrier to federal remedies.
An organization created more than 50 years ago to develop and promote the community association model is now meeting with lawmakers and advocating for policies affecting that same model.
๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ
Hoaโs and Caโs attempt to maximize their Reserve holdings by investing in CDโs MM funds and other risk adverse vehicles. Federal tax rate is 30% on interest and dividends, more than the corporate rate and the CG tax.
This needs to change since most of these are unincorporated associations and not non profits. This should be a topic for conversation with Federal officials.
As a homeowner who has possibly been scammed by a โhomeownersโ associationโ that has actually been operating as a developersโ association and property maintenance committee rather that a properly elected and fully functional HOA board, I feel strongly that Corporate Transparency Act requirements should apply to HOA board members. Homeowners have a right to know who is running their associations and what board membersโ professional/financial affiliations are.