Don’t Fret Over Moratorium Bill

Our office has been getting numerous calls from board members and managers concerned with the proposed foreclosure moratorium in the Ohio legislature. As has been widely reported across the State, the Democratic controlled House passed House Bill 3, which would place a six month moratorium on mortgage foreclosures. At this time, Kaman & Cusimano, LLC does not believe Ohio’s community associations have cause for concern. First, the legislation appears to only apply to mortgage foreclosures (i.e. lender banks) and not any other type of lien holder such as a condominium or homeowner association foreclosure. Additionally, this moratorium legislation now faces the daunting and extremely unlikely task of passing in the Republican controlled Ohio State Senate. With the Senate busy trying to fix the budget crisis and many senators questioning the constitutionality and effectiveness of moratorium legislation, House Bill 3 does not appear to have enough support to become law.

Even if a six month foreclosure moratorium would become law, prior experience has shown that a foreclosure moratorium may have a positive effect on community associations. As indicated at our recent Financial Crisis Seminar, the good news for community associations is that moratoriums often give the lender bank a chance to work out a payment plan and revised mortgage terms with the unit/homeowner. In order to file the new mortgage, the lender bank is usually paying the association in full, including attorneys’ fees and court costs, to remove the association’s lien and stop the association’s foreclosure.

As is indicated above, there is no need for Ohio community association board members or managers to fret over the impact of the passage of Ohio House Bill 3.

Mortgage Modification Legislation Dead

Good News! Last week, the Senate defeated a bill which could have had a negative impact on community associations across the country. Many board members, property managers and attorneys have been concerned about the possibility that this legislation would have allowed a federal judge to modify a owner's financial obligation to the association. Essentially, a judge may have been able to drastically reduce or even eliminate the fees owed by a delinquent owner to an association. While finding remedies for the financial and foreclosure crisis remains a national priority, this legislation had the potential to create a new crisis: crippling America's communities.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Community Association Institute's (CAI) Government and Public Affairs Team worked very hard to lobby Congress against this bill. Ultimately, their efforts, along with grass roots opposition from board members across the country, proved to be successful. This is a legislative victory for community associations all over America!

For more on the story, read the CAI's press release: Mortgage Modification Legislation Dies in Senate (word document)

You Can Make a Difference!

It often seems like as just one person, you cannot make a difference, but as a board member, you really can! Greg McNeil, a board member at Ashbrooke in Hudson, petitioned the government and received federal stimulus money on behalf his association. His story was reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Saturday April 4, 2009.

Greg McNeil of Hudson got $168,323 in stimulus money to silence train horns at crossing near his homeFederal money to help create train quiet zone
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Karen Farkas

Hudson -- Greg McNeil competed with city, county and state officials for Ohio's federal stimulus money and wound up winning $168,323 to silence train horns at a crossing near his home.

McNeil's project, on behalf of his homeowners association, was one of only 149 chosen last week by the Ohio Department of Transportation from 2,222 eligible to receive $774 million in infrastructure money. His is the only submission from a private citizen to receive ODOT's nod.

"I tell you, we were ecstatic," he said. "This was just tremendous." Norfolk Southern owns the tracks that cross Twinsburg Road in Macedonia, where the number of trains has increased to 76 a day. Nearby residents in Hudson, Macedonia and Northfield Center Township don't mind the trains, just the horns.

McNeil, who owns a Web site design company, has lived in Hudson's Ashbrooke East subdivision just west of the tracks for four years. As vice president of his homeowners association, he volunteered in January of last year to find out how the crossing could become a quiet zone.

A 2005 federal rule sets standards for quiet zones, which can be designated by the Federal Railroad Administration if safety measures at railroad crossings are sufficiently upgraded.

Norfolk Southern did an engineering study of the Twinsburg Road crossing for $7,500, with half the cost paid by Macedonia and the remainder split by Northfield Center Township and Hudson, McNeil said.

The engineering report last September recommended dividers in the center of the road and circuitry upgrades to lower the gates based on the speed of the train instead of when it reaches a certain point on the tracks. The cost for those improvements was $168,323.

McNeil appealed to public officials for state or federal help but struck out.

On March 3, he talked to Heidi Swindell, government-affairs liaison for the Summit County engineer's office, and she suggested he apply for stimulus money. Only one problem - the deadline was that day. McNeil enlisted the help of his daughter Amy, a senior marketing major at Kent State University, and they submitted the online proposal 15 minutes before the deadline. "I kind of looked at it as a 'Hail Mary' pass," he said.

The Ohio Rail Development Commission recommended grade-crossing safety projects to ODOT for stimulus funding, said spokesman Stu Nicholson. "There was some pretty hefty competition," he said. "For a homeowners association to go through that process and win out is not a small victory. It's pretty significant."

McNeil hopes the crossing project is finished by Labor Day. Swindell, who said the engineer's office will help in any way it can, was amazed that McNeil's project was one of the six in Summit County to receive stimulus funds. "I was so impressed at his tenacity," she said. "Here is a private citizen, instead of complaining about something wrong in his neighborhood, trying to find ways to fix it."

Welcome!

Welcome to the new, redesigned homepage of Kaman & Cusimano LLC! We have kept all of the same great features such as news, articles and seminar registration, while making the site easier to use and nagivate.


One great new feature is the Ohio Condo & HOA Law Blog. On this page, we will keep our clients and readers abreast about current trends in the law, answer commonly asked questions, report on important community association news, and share some of our most recent successes! This is just another way we want to communicate with board members and their property managers to make sure everyone has the most and best information possible to keep your association running smoothly.