2019-2020 Legislative Session
CAI's Pennsylvania Legislative Action Committee priorities in the 2019-2020 two year legislative session.
2019-2020 Legislative Session
House Bill 1578: Title 68 Amendments
CAI supports this Bill. Introduced on June 5, 2019 by Representative Sue Helm (R-Dauphin): This legislation amends the statutes governing common interest ownership communities (CIOCs) in the Commonwealth. These amendments are all intended to clarify existing provisions of these consumer protection statutes and enhance the overall administration and governance of Pennsylvania’s community associations. As described below, these amendments relate to four (4) specific sections of the Uniform Condominium Act (“UCA”), Uniform Planned Community Act (“UPCA”) and Real Estate Cooperative Act (“RECA”) (collectively, the “Acts”) and are designed to be entirely consistent with the statutory scheme already put in place by the Legislature.
The specific amendments are outlined below:
- Sections 3205(15) of the UCA; 4205(a)(15) of the RECA; and 5205(18) of the UPCA. This amendment incorporates into the required provisions of the declaration a provision, which is already included in the public offering statement, to include a description of all fees or charges which Unit Owners will be required to pay for use of Common Elements, Limited Common Elements or any other facilities.
- Sections 3219(f) of the UCA, 4219(f) of the RECA, and 5219(f) of the UPCA. This amendment clarifies the previously vague interpretation of “independent” with respect to legal counsel required to provide an opinion to effect corrective amendments to the declaration.
- Sections 3402(17) of the UCA, 4403(16) of the RECA, and 5402(18) of the UPCA. This amendment provides a procedure for facilitating corrective amendments to bylaws and codes of regulations similar to the procedure for effecting corrective amendments to declarations already included in the Acts.
- Sections 3306(c) of the UCA, 4306(c) of the RECA, and 5306(c) of the UPCA. This amendment clarifies the requirements for inclusion in a public offering statement of descriptions of all fees or charges which Unit Owners will be required to pay for use of Common Elements, Limited Common Elements or any other facilities.
Most recent update: Signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on Friday, March 27, 2020. The Act takes effect on May 26, 2020.
Senate Bill 802 & House Bill 1892: Community Association Data Transparency
CAI supports this Bill. Introduced in the Senate by Senator Mario Scavello (R-Monroe) and in the House by Rep. Rosemary Brown (R-Monroe): This legislation would amend the Municipalities Planning Code to require County Planning Commissions to include CIOC data in their currently required annual report. Counties would be required to collect, maintain, and make available upon request, information identifying condominium associations, cooperative housing developments, and planned communities located within the boundaries of the County. While it is estimated that 2.8 million PA residents live in a common interest ownership community (CIOC) and that roughly 80 percent of new housing starts since 2000 are CIOCs, the actual number and location of these communities is, by and large, unknown. Senate Bill 855 would mandate the collection of data, including information such as name, physical location, land area, lot size, number of units and location and would aid the State in assessing the impact of legislation specific to CIOCs. To mitigate the impact on County governments, amendments to the original bill would permit the County to make the data available to the public at a cost not to exceed that allowed under the state Right to Know Law and would also permit the posting of the data in electronic form.
Most recent update: This bill died at the end of the 2020 legislative session and is expected to be re-introduced in the 2021 session.
Senate Bill 539 / House Bill 1562: Homeowner Association Contributions Tax Deduction
CAI supports this Bill. Introduced on April 10, 2019 by Senator Mario Scavello (R-Monroe) in the Senate and on June 4, 2019 Representative Martina White (R-Philadelphia) in the House: This legislation seeks to address what amounts to “double taxation” for residents living throughout our Commonwealth in condominium and homeowner associations. This occurs because homeowners in these communities pay assessments for the functional equivalent of local government services which are not provided by their local municipality, even though they pay local property taxes. Adding to this inequity, while local property taxes are deductible on federal tax filings, association assessments for local services are not. This legislation would remedy this inequity by allowing Pennsylvania residents of a qualified association governed community to deduct from a Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax filing 75% of the mandatory association assessment fees used for local services.
Most recent update: This bill died at the end of the 2020 legislative session and is expected to be re-introduced in the 2021 session.
Senate Bill 539
House Bill 1562