Condo Media - July 2013 - 30

by Nena Groskind

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Volunteerism at its Very Best
Stephen Marcus Receives CAI’s “Outstanding Volunteer Service Award”

S

tephen Marcus, a partner in the
Massachusetts law ﬁrm Marcus,
Errico, Emmer & Brooks, has
received the Community
Association Institute’s (CAI) “Outstanding Volunteer Service Award,”
recognizing his contributions to
the condominium industry and his
active involvement in both the national organization and its regional
afﬁliate, CAI-New England.
The CAI award is presented
annually to “an individual who
has provided outstanding leadership and demonstrated long-term
dedication to CAI and the community association industry.” Three
years ago, Marcus won CAI-NE’s
prestigious Hall of Fame Award,
recognizing individuals “who
have selﬂessly volunteered countless hours of their time and shared
without hesitation their expertise
in advancing the interests of community associations, CAI, and its
members.”
“Stephen epitomizes CAI
volunteerism at its very best,” says
Thomas Skiba, chief executive ofﬁcer
of the national trade group. “Our
accomplishments in government affairs, professional education, chapter
programming, and other areas are
made possible by dedicated leaders like
Stephen.”
Presented to Marcus at a CAI
national conference, the award cites,
among many contributions, his role in
persuading the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to revise its condominium certiﬁcation guidelines to ease
the negative impacts on condominium
communities. On that issue and others, the award notes, “Stephen was

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CONDO MEDIA • JULY 2013

particularly inﬂuential in inﬂuencing
and educating federal ofﬁcials about
the community association housing

CAI national president Dennis Abbott, CMCA, AMS, PCAM (left)
presents the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award to CAI New
England Chapter member Stephen Marcus, Esq. at the
CAI national conference in San Diego.

model and the importance of considering associations when creating federal
regulations.”
Asked about the FHA initiative, Marcus said the CAI task force on which he
served “accomplished some things, but
not everything.” Responding to industry
concerns, FHA ofﬁcials made key changes in the requirements for ﬁdelity insurance and they signiﬁcantly “toned down”
the statements certiﬁcation applicants are
required to sign, Marcus said. But some
issues, leasing restrictions primary among
them, remain unresolved. On those issues, Marcus said, “our discussions with
the FHA are continuing.”
Characteristically uncomfortable talk-

ing about himself, Marcus wouldn’t say
much more about the volunteer activities that earned him the CAI award,
but Andrew Fortin was happy to ﬁll
in those blanks. As vice president of
government affairs at CAI (he now
holds a similar position at Associa),
Fortin worked closely with Marcus
on a range of issues.
“Of all the people with whom
I worked in my career at CAI,
Stephen has given the most of
himself personally and professionally,” Fortin says. “When we needed
to revamp the amicus committee,
he helped lead that charge; when
we started the CAI Political Action Committee, he was the ﬁrst to
contribute to it; when we needed
someone to get the College of
Community Association Lawyers
engaged in social media, Stephen
was there.
“Anyone who has worked with
Stephen recognizes the tremendous
legal expertise he brings to any
project. But he also brings a great
attitude, a huge heart, and [unwavering] loyalty. He will go to the mat for
you again and again.”
The CAI award similarly emphasized
Marcus’ commitment to the condominium industry, as well as the energy
and passion that still drive his volunteer activities. “What is most remarkable,” the presentation noted, “is that
Stephen is as passionate and reliable in
his work with CAI and the community
association industry today as he was
when he started decades ago.”
That comment elicited a wry response from Marcus. Passion, he suggested, “is a code word for crazy,” as
in, “still crazy after all these years.” CM
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