Homeowners should have say in proposed new laws

Editor's Note: This is a special column about Las Vegas homeowners association topics by Donna Erwin with the Community Association Institute of Nevada. It will run the first Saturday of each month through the current Legislature session.

Now that the 2011 Nevada Legislature has convened, the Community Associations Institute of Nevada and its legislative action committee are very involved in identifying those bills of concern to common-interest communities and working to make sure our legislators understand how those bills will affect homeowners and associations.

About a dozen bill draft requests regarding common-interest communities have been introduced by various legislators. As of the start of the legislative session Feb. 7, three bills have come out, ranging from how HOAs may approach lawsuits on behalf of homeowners, to providing homeowners with the opportunity to request third-party audits of fiscal statements, to further detailing what information homeowners may access from their HOAs and receive within a certain time frame.

These bills have been introduced to safeguard both homeowners and associations, so they may find a happy balance when creating a community.

For now, it is difficult to say how these bills, if passed into law, will affect homeowners and associations, but transparency appears to be the goal by revising these existing statutes. CAI agrees that transparency is important to building trust between residents and their HOAs; however, the financial cost to all of the homeowners, who will bear that cost, must also be considered. CAI's LAC will closely monitor new bills as they appear and provide periodic analysis about how they will affect homeowners once more light is shed.

About 62 million Americans live in a common-interest community, and Nevada is among the states with the largest number of associations.

An independent, national research survey conducted by Zogby International in December 2009 revealed that seven in 10 community association residents are satisfied in their communities. The survey also established that almost 90 percent of residents believe their volunteer leaders who serve on their boards "absolutely" or "for the most part" strive to serve the best interests of their communities.

The vast majority of associations are well-run by their volunteer boards and professional community managers. These board members donate their time to provide the positive and necessary services vital to our communities. CAI condemns any action by an association or vendor that violates the law and works tirelessly to teach owners, board members and managers the legal requirements and best practices of effective governance.

CAI Nevada and its LAC will track bills that affect our communities and educate the legislators about the negative and burdensome impacts of these bills. Burdening these communities with needless and micromanaging regulations simply doesn't make any more sense than burdening businesses with unnecessary regulations.

Information about pending legislation can be found on CAI's website, www.cai-nevada.org. CAI and its LAC encourage you to contact your legislators by phone or e-mail and tell them how their bill will affect your community. Their contact information is available at www.leg.state.nv.us.

Donna Erwin, AMS, LSM, PCAM is the chair of the legislative action committee for the Community Associations Institute of Nevada, a trade organization that represents homeowners associations, community managers and industry partners.