WASHINGTON, DC – March 3, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Multifamily Information and Transactions Standards (MITS) initiative, the apartment industry’s coordinated effort to create data standards so different software programs can “talk to each other,” has released a new “Renters’ Insurance 4.0” standard.
The MITS Renters’ Insurance 4.0 data transfer standard is designed to facilitate selling renters’ insurance as part of the leasing process by making it easier for property management software to exchange data with software used by firms offering renters’ insurance.
“This latest data transfer standard is part of our ongoing effort to improve the leasing process for renters and help apartment firms automate more of their operations,” said David Cardwell, Vice President of Technology for the National Multi Housing Council, which sponsors MITS.
The renters’ insurance standard, like all MITS data transfer standards, is open and available without charge to all users at www.MITSProject.org.
The following MITS member firms participated in the development of the standard and its supporting documentation: Assurant Specialty Property; Bader Company; CoreLogic SafeRent; ePremium Insurance; LexisNexis; On-Site.com, RealPage, Inc./LeasingDesk; and Yardi Systems, Inc.
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About the MITS Data Standards
Established in 2002 by the National Multi Housing Council, the Multifamily Information and Transactions Standards (MITS) initiative is an industry-wide effort by the apartment sector to develop common data transfer standards to facilitate data and systems integration and automation. The MITS standards are an industry resource available at no cost.
MITS standards are currently being used to automate a variety of business activities, including accounts payable, resident screening, rent payment, utility billing, rental application processing and online apartment marketing, leasing and collections. MITS also hosts an independent standard used to automate compliance reporting for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. MITS is funded and sponsored by approximately 75 of the nation’s leading apartment owners and software providers. The National Apartment Association serves as a national outreach partner in the initiative.
MITS is a set of technical standards and guidelines that provide standard definitions for over 3,500 data elements and corresponding data sequential patterns, or XML schemas, containing all the information fields that need to be populated to perform any given multifamily activity, such as filling out a lease, describing a property’s assets to a lender or prospective buyer or screening a prospective resident’s credit.
All interested firms can participate in MITS. Industry representatives can submit comments on the standards and learn more about the MITS initiative at www.MITSProject.org. Information on voting memberships in the MITS Working Group is available by contacting Lauren Dwyer at 202/974-2387 or 
About the National Multi Housing Council
Based in Washington, DC, NMHC is a national association representing the interests of the larger and most prominent apartment firms in the U.S. NMHC’s members are the principal officers of firms engaged in all aspects of the apartment industry, including owners, developers, managers and financiers. One-third of Americans rent their housing, and over 14 percent of all U.S. households live in an apartment home. For more information, contact NMHC at 202/974-2300, e-mail the Council at 
Contact:
David Cardwell, 202/974-2336, 
