Proud Veteran

Today I had the most humbling experience of my life. My granddaughter is a six grader at Aragon Middle School in the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District. Veterans were invited to share lunch with their children, or grandchildren that attend Aragon Middle School honoring them for their service to our country.

Upon arrival at the school we (the veterans) were greeted at the office and given a special hand printed name tag that had a red, white, & blue star with the inscription "Proud To Be An American". We were asked to stand for pictures in front of a banner that the students had made, and then were escorted to the cafeteria where the entire 6th grade student body, teaching staff, and workers were standing cheering and applauding as we entered. We were given a microphone to introduce ourselves and say what branch of the service we served in. In our group there were seven Army, three Navy and one Marine in attendance, of course they were the loudest when the Marine introduced himself. Just looking out at the kids applauding and cheering almost moved me to tears (but Marines do not cry). One grandpa brought his wife - she and some of the other ladies did cry as they were overwhelmed by the reaction of these children!!

We were given a free lunch pass, as we left the lunch line many of the kids came up to shake our hands and thank us for our service! I had to chuckle as my granddaughter and I walked towards the table we were going to sit at because a couple of the boys said hey, the Marine is going to sit at our table. After lunch the kids gave us another standing ovation as they left to go to class. When we went back to the office we were given a gift bag containing homemade cookies.

I have never been prouder of my military service as I was today, you cannot began to fathom how it felt; seeing these young children stand, cheer, applaud, and shake your hand! It just means so much more coming from the innocence of childhood! This celebration was repeated during the lunch periods for the seventh and eighth graders.

We're Moving

Our Southwest Office is moving! After more than 10 years in our current location, we will be moving a few miles away to a new convenient location near Beltway 8 and Richmond. Our new office will be at 3000 Wilcrest, Suite 200 in the Westchase District (map).

Our new suite is under construction and we are on target to move at the end of December. We are scheduling the actual move so there will be no interruption in our service.

FHFA Proposal Update

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) was created in July 2008 when the President signed into law the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The FHFA is the new regulatory agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the nation's 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

On August 12th, the FHFA issued proposed guidelines for public comment that would restrict Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks from investing in mortgages with private transfer fee covenants. Many communities have 3rd party, deed-based transfer fees that are collected when a home is sold. These fees are generally used to initial build reserve funds for the association during development (capitalization fees) or to provide additional services (community enhancement fees). The fees are paid to the community association or a related entity and used for the benefit of the community.

However, as written, the proposal does not differentiate between fees that are used within the community and, the original FHFA target, developers or investors that receive a fee each time a property is sold for decades in the future. As proposed, it would make in very difficult for a home buyer to get a mortgage in any community with one of these transfer fees.

The comment period on the proposed rule ended on October 15th and members of Community Associations Institute submitted comments from more that 2,600 organizations and individuals. Developers, builders, realtors and other professionals also weighed in on the proposed guidelines. As of November 15th, the FHFA has not issued a revised proposal or a final ruling. There is no set timeframe in which the FHFA must take their next step.

This is a major new mortgage guideline that will affect many communities. We'll keep abreast of new developments and promptly notify any of our communities that would be affected by this ruling.

Hockey Nights Are Coming

Our Texas professional football teams aren't looking too good this year - so how about watching some hockey? Hockey is a fast paced, action packed game played by tough, skilled athletes. Nothing compares to the excitement of watching a live game.

Our 13th Hockey Night with the Houston Aeros will be held on January 15th when the Aeros take on the Grand Rapids Griffins. The last time we scheduled Hockey Night against the Griffins, the game was canceled because the Griffins got stuck in a snowstorm up north and couldn't get here. We still chuckle about a hockey game in Houston getting postponed because of snow. In any case, the Aeros are battling in the middle of the division and need every win they can get to position themselves for the playoffs. The Griffins are in their way.

Our 3rd Hockey Night with the San Antonio Rampage will be held on February 26th when the Rampage take on the Texas Stars. The Stars are the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. Even though 2009/2010 was their inaugural season, they went all the way to the Calder Cup finals. This year, the Rampage are on top of the division riding a long winning streak. It helps that the Rampage acquired three top players from the Star's Calder Cup team. This game should be very interesting.

Invitations will be mailed at the beginning of December (Houston) and January (San Antonio). To see photos of last year's fun, click Houston or San Antonio.

Community of the Month

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• November - Telfair Community Association
  Southwest Office - Libby Hodges, Community Manager
• October - Homeowners Association of Timber Forest
  North Office - Brenda Alvarez, Community Manager
• September - Silverglen North
  North Office - Roxanne Bailey, Community Manager

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

Anniversaries

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in October and November.

• Indian Shores Property Owners Association — 23 years
• Bowling Green Garden Homes — 22 years
• Ashcreek Homeowners Association — 20 years
• Heather Ridge Homeowners Association — 19 years
• Lochshire Maintenance Fund Inc — 17 years
• Kirkmont Section 2 Association — 17 years
• Traces II Community Improvement Association — 14 years
• Atascocita West Community Improvement Association — 13 years
• Community Association of the Highlands — 13 years
• Southdown Community Association — 12 years
• Pine Brook Community Association — 10 years
• Plantation at Woodforest Community Association — 10 years
• Belleau Wood Civic Club — 9 years
• Legends Run Homeowners Association — 7 years
• Oak Park Ridge Homeowners Association — 7 years
• Rivermist Homeowners Association — 7 years
• Silver Ridge Homeowners Association — 7 years
• The Stable Gate Homeowners' Association — 6 years
• Summerwood Community Association — 5 years
• Fairway Pointe Community Association — 4 years
• Courtyard-Westway Homeowners Association — 3 years
• Heron Nest Owners Association — 3 years
• Hunters Green Homeowners Association — 3 years

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

New Communities

C.I.A Services continues to grow as more communities hear about our unique approach to community association management. We would like to welcome our newest clients that have come onboard in the last three months.

• Bridlewood Estates Property Owners Association — Southwest Office — Kim Moore, Community Manager
• Majestic Oaks Homeowners Association — North Office — Roxanne Bailey, Community Manager
• Sunrise Lakes Community Association — Southwest Office — Amanda Jensen, Community Manager

Employee Spotlight

• Congratulations to Vice President Laura Tate who recently earned her PCAM designation by completing the course work and passing the case study dissertation. The Professional Community Association Manager is the highest national designation for our industry awarded by the Community Associations Institute.
• Congratulations to Brenda Alvarez on her 22nd anniversary with us. Brenda is a stockholder and Community Manager and the Office Manager for our North office.
• Congratulations to Ed Barnett on his 11th anniversary with us. Ed is a stockholder and Maintenance Coordinator at our Southwest office.
• Congratulations to our two newest stockholders from our North Office who celebrated their 5th anniversary October: Community Manager Brenda Ellington and Administrative Assistant Melinda Diaz.
• Welcome back to Amanda Jensen as a Community Manager at our Southwest Office. Amanda previously was a manager at our North Office and has returned. We are very pleased to have her back.
• And welcome to Beth Soron who recently joined our Bandera Office accounting staff, Amada Douglass who is an onsite Community Assistant at the new Telfair Central Hall and Savannah Brantley who is providing support services at our North Office.

Laura Tate		Brenda Alvarez		Ed Barnett
Brenda Ellington		Melinda Diaz		Amanda Jensen
Beth Soron		Amada Bradley		Savannah Brantley