Virginia licensed condo managers in 2008. New York still hasn't.

On July 1, 2008, Virginia activated the Common Interest Community Board and the Office of the Common Interest Community Ombudsman — a single piece of legislation that required management firms to obtain a state license, established a state-funded ombudsman to receive owner complaints, and laid the statutory foundation for mandatory pre-contract disclosure. New York's equivalent bill, S.71 (Kavanagh), did not advance from committee in 2026, its tenth consecutive session without a floor vote.

The licensing requirement Virginia put in place 18 years ago.

Virginia Administrative Code Title 18, Agency 48 requires that every firm managing common interest communities in Virginia hold a license from the CIC Board and that each employee providing management services obtain individual certification within two years of hire. Certification requires completing a CIC Board-approved education course, passing a CIC Board-approved exam covering Virginia community association law, fiduciary duties, and financial management, submitting a background disclosure, and paying a $125 application fee. A firm operating without a license is subject to administrative penalties administered through the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.

The framework distinguishes between firm licensure and employee certification. A firm can be licensed while a new hire completes the two-year window before individual certification is required. Once the window closes, both credentials must be in place. The CIC Board can suspend or revoke a license on findings of dishonesty, incompetence, or failure to comply with Virginia association law. Disciplinary actions are public record through DPOR.

In New York, no state agency holds equivalent authority over managing agents. S.71 would require registration with the Department of State and certification from an approved organization. S.71 has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee in each session it has been introduced. The 2025-26 session closed June 18 without a hearing on the bill. For context on what the licensure gap means in practice, see the companion post on Local Law 58, which created liability for managing agents without creating a license.

A state ombudsman that answers calls from unit owners.

The Virginia CIC Ombudsman operates under Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia and receives complaints from unit owners and shareholders about association governance, provides written determinations on disputes, and can refer matters involving licensed managers to the CIC Board. The office is separate from the licensing board: the board handles complaints against management firms; the ombudsman handles complaints about association conduct.

In fiscal year 2022-23, the ombudsman's office responded to 1,994 phone calls and 3,397 emails, for 5,391 owner contacts in a single year. The most common subjects were access to books and records, meeting notice requirements, and disclosure obligations. The 2025-26 determinations series is publicly available on the DPOR website. A unit owner files a standardized complaint form; the ombudsman investigates and issues a written determination that becomes part of the public record.

New York has no equivalent office. The AG's Real Estate Finance Bureau operates under the Martin Act and Real Property Law Article 9-B, giving it authority over offering plans, pre-sale sponsor conduct, and conversion documents. Post-purchase governance disputes fall outside that authority. CCNYC has documented this structural constraint in detail: why the NY AG can't help with most condo governance disputes. The absence of an ombudsman means there is no administrative channel for an owner to compel disclosure of meeting minutes, request an accounting of special assessments, or challenge a rules enforcement decision without going directly to civil court.

What a Virginia resale certificate must contain.

Virginia Code §55.1-2309 requires the seller of a condominium unit to obtain a resale certificate from the association before contract signing and deliver it to the buyer. The association or its managing agent has 14 calendar days from a written request to prepare and deliver the certificate. A standardized form issued by DPOR became mandatory on July 1, 2025.

If the association fails to deliver the certificate within 14 days, the certificate is deemed unavailable, and the buyer may cancel the contract within three days of receipt of that notice. Preparation fees are capped by a schedule that DPOR publishes. Virginia places the cost of preparation on the seller, not the buyer.

In New York, no statute requires equivalent disclosure at contract signing. S7541, which passed the NY Senate 58-1 in June 2025, would have required disclosure of engineering reports and inspection records to buyers — a narrower set than what Virginia's §55.1-2310 mandates. The Assembly companion never received a floor vote. A8337 remains in the Housing Committee. The structural gap this creates is catalogued at /issues/no-mandatory-financial-disclosure-to-buyers/.

Three gaps, one working model.

The three components of Virginia's 2008 legislation map directly to three gaps CCNYC has documented separately in New York. Each NY reform vehicle has its own bill number, its own committee history, and its own legislative graveyard entry.

The absence of managing agent licensing in New York is catalogued at /issues/no-public-managing-agent-registry/. Virginia resolved that gap in 2008. The same session created an institution that now handles thousands of owner contacts per year.

The standard is operational, not theoretical.

Virginia's framework has been in continuous operation for 18 years. The CIC Board has licensed management firms and certified individual managers across the state, including in Northern Virginia, the DC metro corridor from Arlington to Loudoun County, where condominium density and median unit values are comparable to many NYC neighborhoods. The governance risks that motivated Virginia's General Assembly in 2008 were not unique to Virginia: reserve fund underfunding, managing agent conflicts of interest, vendor capture, and board opacity are present wherever common interest housing exists without external accountability.

The ombudsman's annual determination reports describe what actually reaches the office when owners have a channel to use. Access to books and records is consistently the leading complaint category. That pattern is consistent with CCNYC's structural finding: absent a disclosure mandate, owners cannot know what they do not know, and have no administrative path to compel it short of litigation.

A buyer in Arlington or Alexandria reviews the reserve study and the pending litigation section before going to contract. The seller's agent knows that a 14-day clock is running from the moment the buyer requests the certificate. A buyer in Manhattan has no equivalent statutory right. The 14-day clock that Virginia imposes on associations does not exist in New York law.

Florida's post-Surfside reforms addressed the structural inspection and reserve funding gaps, as documented in the CCNYC comparison of Florida HB 913 and New York. New Jersey mandated reserve studies in 2024, as documented in the NJ comparison post. Virginia addressed the governance layer — who manages the building, whether they are accountable to a licensing board, and whether a buyer can see the building's finances before signing. Each jurisdiction has moved on one or more of these dimensions. New York has moved on none of the three.

Bottom line.

Virginia resolved three structural gaps in condo governance with a single 2008 bill: managing agent licensing, a state ombudsman, and mandatory pre-contract disclosure. Each gap exists, unresolved, in New York in 2026. S.71 is on its tenth session. S7541 passed the Senate and was withdrawn in the Assembly. S7745 (Mayer), which would create a cooperative and condominium ombudsperson program within DHCR, was referred to the Housing committee in 2025-26 and did not advance. The Virginia model is not a projection of what reform could look like. It is 18 years of operational practice in a state that decided the gaps were worth closing.

Primary sources: Virginia Administrative Code Title 18, Agency 48 (CIC Board regulations) · Virginia Code §55.1-2309 (resale certificate delivery) · Virginia Code §55.1-2310 (resale certificate form and contents) · DPOR Office of the CIC Ombudsman · CICO Annual Report FY 2022-23 · NY S.71 (2025-26 session, Kavanagh) · DPOR CIC Board

Companion resources: S.71: the NY managing-agent licensure bill · Why the NY AG can't help with condo governance disputes · NY's condo transparency bill: 58-1 Senate, Assembly sponsor withdrew · When Albany adjourned, four reform bills had no vote · Florida fixed condo transparency after Surfside. New York hasn't. · New Jersey mandated reserve studies. New York still hasn't. · Issue: No public managing agent registry · Issue: No mandatory financial disclosure to buyers · Write to your NY representative