CARSON CITY, Nev.—With the Nevada Legislature now adjourning for the 2015 legislative session, the state’s credit unions say they were able to win a number of victories.
Among those wins was SB 306, which addresses HOA super-priority liens, which has been signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval. The league said it had been engaged for several months in negotiating a compromise with stakeholders, including homeowners associations, realtors, banks, and other mortgage lenders.
The bill will remedy a situation in which home owners associations (HOAs) exercised their super priority lien status in Nevada to foreclose on homes to collect unpaid dues, wiping out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans without ever giving lenders notice. “SB 306 will make sure HOAs notify lien holders of delinquent HOA assessments on the homes, allowing credit unions and other lenders to remedy the delinquent HOA dues and avoid a foreclosure sale,” the league said. “The bill specifically requires HOAs to provide credit unions with notices when a homeowner is behind on his or her HOA assessments upon notice of default and election to sell, all prior to executing a foreclosure sale.”
SB 306 also offers lien holders and homeowners a redemption period to recover the property if the delinquent assessments are not paid prior to a foreclosure sale.
The league said it was also successful in amending AB 175 to add transparency for consumers who drive for transportation network companies (such as Uber and Lyft), by requiring an additional disclosure alerting them to the fact that their car is at-risk. The company must to disclose to its drivers in writing, that their personal automobile insurance contract may not cover physical damage done to their vehicles while they are providing services. AB 175 would additionally require drivers—with Uber, Lyft or a similar company—with a lien on their vehicle, to notify the lienholder they are using their vehicles to provide these services. AB 176 created a system for transportation network companies to be regulated by the Nevada Transportation Authority.
Among other victories in the Nevada legislature, according to the league, was the defeat of Senate Bill 260 and Assembly Bill 240, which would have required credit unions to impound HOA dues in escrow accounts for all new home loans in a homeowners association, and pay HOA dues through those accounts.
The governor’s new revenue package to fund education in Nevada also exempts Nevada's credit unions from the modified business tax and commerce tax, and keeps Nevada's credit unions' business license fee at $200.
The legislature also passed Senate Bill 512, putting a two-year sunset on the foreclosure mediation program, which would end the program in 2017, the league noted.