Happy New Year to All Home Association Boards

To all our Board Members,

Happy New Year! I hope everyone’s holidays were joyous and prosperous.

The entire Community Management Team from Parker Finch recently attended a seminar sponsored by Carpenter, Hazelwood, Delgado & Wood on the subject of FHA approvals on condominiums.  The program was very informative and laid out some very specific answers to the many questions that have recently become issues in many of our communities.  I have included a copy of the materials provided, including the actual documents from FHA.  A quick rundown of the questions asked in the FHA approval process brings up three key items:

• Are fewer than 50% of all units owner-occupied; excluding vacancies, bank-owned, and real-estate-owned?
• Do you have more than 15% in delinquencies (30 days or more in arrears)?
• Are more than 10% of all units owned by one person or entity?   

In addition all spot approvals will cease permanently as of February, 2010 and the only way to obtain an FHA loan for a unit in a condominium will be if the HOA has been certified by the FHA.  If your HOA is already certified, you will be required to update your certification every 2 years depending on your original date of certification. 

At this point, the laws only pertain to communities designated as condominiums, but we were advised that similar legislation may be coming in the near future which will also include single family communities. 

This new legislation could have a serious impact on the stability our associations as FHA guaranteed loans are very attractive to buyers as they require only a 3.5% down payment while conventional loans are typically requiring 10% down or more. The attached documents have more information, and should be read at your leisure.

Carpenter- Hazelwood offers seminars on a variety of HOA topics all throughout the year, and they serve lunch! Parker Finch Managers attend most all of the luncheons which are also open to HOA board members even if your association is not represented by Carpenter-Hazelwood.  You can access their schedule on their website (see the link above) and click on the Education tab.  Maybe we will see you at one in the future!

Note: This month’s Post Board Meeting Survey winner is John C. from Summerfield 6. John, Thanks for participating and watch your mailbox.
 

Best regards,

Stu Burton
President
Parker Finch Management
209 E. Baseline Rd. #E208
Tempe, AZ 85283
Office: 602-508-1974 #111
Cell: 480-734-0562

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