Changes to Homeowners Association Bylaws - SB 187

Directly from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission website:

The bill creates new procedures in state law for the establishment and governance of planned communities similar to those for condominium associations. The bill sets out definitions for planned communities and homeowners' associations, provides for the establishment of boards of directors, establishes the rights of these boards and individual homeowners in associations, and lays out the powers and duties of the boards in governing the associations. Overall, these provisions will increase the number of legal instruments processed by county recorders. The bill is most likely to have a greater effect on urban and suburban counties, where most of these planned communities are situated, than on rural counties.


The bill identifies three instances in which an individual or association would be required to file with the county recorder's office: (1) the initial declaration and bylaws for the establishment of a planned community, (2) any subsequent amendments made to the declaration or bylaws, and (3) any lien placed on an individual lot by the association for payment of assessments, charges, and other fees and costs. The bill also applies to existing non-condominium developments that wish to have the status of a planned community. In all these cases, county recorders would process the required instruments and collect the filing fees.

While it is difficult to predict how many existing communities might declare as planned communities or how many new communities may be developed as a result of the bill, a majority of these planned communities are likely to be in predominantly urban or suburban counties. Recorders' offices in these counties would thus incur some new costs for processing the necessary legal instruments, most if not all of which would be offset by recordation fees. Both new expenses and revenues would depend upon the number of (1) newly formed planned communities, (2) amendments to declarations and bylaws, and (3) liens placed on property owners in a community.

Additionally, the bill provides for civil actions by owners and associations concerning disputes over liens and other violations of association policy or law. This is unlikely to create any significant new costs for county municipal courts and courts of common pleas.
 
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FHA MIP Delayed

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has decided to delay instituting the planned adjustments to its insurance premium structure by one month, after the industry expressed concerns about being ready for the upcoming changes in time.

According to a statement from HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Vicki Bott, FHA will make the premium fee changes on all new case numbers effective October 4, 2010. “Over this past week, the industry responded with support of the new fee structure, but voiced strong concern about having system changes ready in time to meet the original September 7, 2010 deadline,” Bott said. “Since these system changes impact regulatory disclosures, lenders expressed they must have the additional time to implement and test systems. FHA took this feedback seriously and has accommodated the need for additional time.”

FHA received congressional approval on August 5th to raise borrowers’ annual premiums for single family mortgage insurance. Lawmakers gave the federal mortgage insurer enough leeway to increase the annual fee it charges borrowers three-fold, up to 1.55 percent. However, according to Bott, the annual premium is not going to go that high. The annual mortgage insurance premium will increase from 0.55 percent to between 0.85 percent and 0.90 percent of the loan amount. At the same time, though, FHA will lower the upfront premium charged on the amount borrowed by 100 basis points from the current 2.25 percent.

The new premium structure gives FHA a means of increasing its capital reserve funds, which as a result of rising mortgage defaults had deteriorated to its lowest level in the agency’s 75-year history at the end of fiscal year 2009.