1. The "Common Interest Development Brochure" was written by industry lobbyists Community Association Institute (CAI) and Community Legislative Action Committee (CLAC). Both groups are dominated by litigation attorneys in the homeowner association field. The brochure is designed to mask the true reality of homeowner associations. It deliberately conceals the major areas which homeowners should be warned about, such as:

• their homes can be foreclosed on nonjudicially
  
• boards of directors can involve the association in expensive lawsuits which can decimate the value of the homes in the association
  
• boards can raise the taxes on homeowners significantly ? ? without the consent of the homeowners
  
• special interest vendor groups such as lawyers extensively ? lobby the legislature to pass legislation which overrides ? the CCR's, generally to the detriment of homeowners and ? ? the benefit of the vendors.
  

In general, the brochure needs to be completely re-written with majority input from homeowners, not vendors. If this were done satisfactorily, AHRC would remove this particular objection to the bill.

2. The bill allows this brochure to be given to the buyer at the close of escrow. AHRC believes that this is useless. By this time, the buyer (and seller) has spent so much money on inspection reports, escrow fees, loan fees etc. that it makes it practically impossible for the buyer to withdraw from the purchase. AHRC advocates that the buyer be provided with a copy of the brochure within 10 days from the signing of the purchase contract.

3. SB 254 does not give the buyer the right to rescind his purchase offer once he discovers that the home is in a homeowner association. AHRC believes that a buyer should have the right to rescind his offer within 10 days after receiving the brochure.

4. This bill has been hijacked by the vendor lobbyists and Howard Yee, legislative aide to the Senate Housing Committee, has been their principal ally in this project. He has consistently weeded out from the legislative bill file and the Senate Hearings file all written input provided by AHRC and other homeowner allies. He has not considered the considerable written and verbal input provided by AHRC at the request of the California homeowners at the meetings of the SR10 working group. Instead, he has closeted himself with the litigation industry lobbyists, and they have actually written portions of the bill. Any proposed amendments by AHRC and homeowners have been completely ignored.

As the primary responsibility of members of the legislature is to represent the interests of the general public who elected them and whose taxes make the work of legislators possible, AHRC urges the members of the Assembly Housing Committee to reject SB 254 in its present form, and to return it to the Senate so that homeowner input can be incorporated

Elizabeth McMahon - Director

American Homeowners Resource Center

Telephone (714)366-2125

Barbara Lee - Chair,

Dick Monteith - Vice Chair

Jim Costa

Quentin Kopp

John Vasconcellos