National Apartment Association Reaches All 535 Congressional Offices With Strong Message: Lawmakers Must Address Barriers Preventing Industry from Meeting Growing Demand

ARLINGTON, Va. – March 25, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — Members of the National Apartment Association (NAA) and nearly 170 affiliated associations this week turned out for their largest ever advocacy campaign, both on Capitol Hill and in congressional districts from coast to coast. Telling lawmakers that apartments work, industry members emphasized that lawmakers must enact public policies that promote rather than obstruct the industry’s ability to provide housing and jobs.

“The apartment industry provides homes to 38 million Americans, contributes $1.3 trillion annually to the economy and supports 12.3 million jobs. As compelling as these facts are in building our case with Congress, the real stories come from the people who work in the industry, who are impacted daily, whether positively or negatively, by decisions made on Capitol Hill,” said Gregory S. Brown, NAA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs.

“That’s why our advocacy power grows each year as more and more apartment owners, managers and other industry members come together as advocates to educate their members of Congress about the value apartments bring to communities across the country.”
NAA members connected with their congressional offices either on March 9 on Capitol Hill during NAA’s Lobby Day or in their home communities during the House of Representatives in-district work period this week.

NAA members advocated for three key issues impacting their businesses:
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Accessibility: Support legislation that provides a business owner with the opportunity to cure an alleged ADA deficiency prior to the initiation of a lawsuit.

• National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and Reauthorization: Support legislation reforming the NFIP and providing for long-term reauthorization of the program before it expires in September 2017.

• Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program: Support legislation reforming the Section 8 program, including the contract term, property inspections, tenant screening and funding stream. The House has already approved this bill.

“These issues are among our most important priorities for this Congress,” said Cindy Chetti, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Multifamily Housing Council, which partners with NAA for the apartment industry’s federal legislative and regulatory priorities. “Enacting them would help ease burdens unfairly placed on apartment owners and managers. Only through collaboration between government and the private sector can we reach our shared goal of providing a variety of quality housing options for all Americans.”

Learn more about apartments at www.weareapartments.org.

For nearly 25 years, the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) have partnered on behalf of America’s apartment industry. Drawing on the knowledge and policy expertise of staff in Washington, D.C., as well as the advocacy power of nearly 170 NAA state and local affiliated associations, NMHC and NAA provide a single voice for developers, owners and operators of multifamily rental housing

Contact: Carole Roper at 703-797-0616
Jim Lapides at 202-974-2360