Did you know that, in addition to being a Civil Rights Movement leader, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. also was a fierce advocate for fair housing? Both in his youth and his travels as a civil rights leader, King witnessed systemic segregation in neighborhoods nationwide and resolved to fight for access to safe and reliable housing for all Americans.
Projections from the Foundation for Community Association Research, an affiliate of Community Associations Institute, estimate 3,000 to 4,000 new condominium communities and homeowners associations will be built in 2025. Community associations — including homeowners associations, condominiums, and housing cooperatives — currently house 77.1 million Americans and comprise 30% to 33% of the U.S. housing market.
In July, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac released updates to project eligibility standards for condominiums and housing cooperatives. It is critically important for condominium and housing cooperative projects to have access to loans that will meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac qualifications. CAI continues to provide specific feedback regarding the requirements.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are compiling troubling blacklists that prohibit mortgage financing for entire condominium or housing cooperative buildings. As the blacklists grow, community managers and board members have no knowledge their buildings are on them. When people are unable to buy and sell units in these buildings, property values may be affected.
Community associations across the country have begun to fight back against the corporate investors who have changed the nature of the communities.
