NAA and Industry Professionals Drive COVID-19 Priorities Forward

This article is reposted from NAA's website, the original article can be found here.

The National Apartment Association (NAA) has been tirelessly advocating on behalf of the apartment industry and our members as the nation grapples with COVID-19 (also referred to as coronavirus). On March 13, NAA and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) sent a letter to Congress urging a number of critical actions, including:

• Mortgage and financial forbearance for housing providers.
• Short-term, temporary financial assistance to help renters meet monetary obligations and avoid delinquencies or eviction.
• Relief for student housing providers.  
• Reduction of payroll taxes to provide extra funds for impacted taxpayers.
• Exclusion of unemployment income from taxes for those affected by COVID-19.
• Reduce 2020 quarterly estimated tax payments for taxpayers who own real estate partnerships or corporations.
• Carryback of 2020-generated net operating losses for three years.
• A wage credit for employers who continue to pay employees impacted by COVID-19.

NAA also expressed our strong opposition to any broad-based moratorium on evictions to Congress and the Administration. Additionally, we emphasized the essential role of property management and housing construction and reiterated the need to be classified as critical sectors of the workforce that should continue to operate during emergency declarations.

As our letter circulated Capitol Hill, NAA staff communicated our priorities and the urgent needs of the apartment industry directly to Congressional offices. We also joined coalitions of like-minded organizations to raise the profile of items beyond our core priorities, including:

• Joined a coalition of small business organizations to press for tax code changes that would, among other things, allow firms to carryback losses from this crisis backward to reclaim taxes they previously paid and help them weather the economic storm.
• Worked with real estate organizations to advocate for an extension of completion deadlines for those who have 1031 “like-kind exchanges” in progress to preserve liquidity in the real estate market.
• Collaborated with a broad group of real estate, insurance and business organizations to urge for the creation of a Business Continuity and Workers’ Protection Recovery Fund patterned after the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

These are just a few examples of how NAA amplified our Congressional outreach through coalitions and other partnerships.

NAA also deployed our most important advocacy resource – you, the membership.

NAA issued a call to action asking owners and operators to contact their members of Congress and make the case for the apartment industry. In a record-setting response, 13,000 heeded the call and made the voice of the apartment industry heard. Dozens of state and local affiliated-apartment associations and member companies around the country also harnessed the power of their members to rapidly deploy the alert through their own networks, greatly extending the industry’s reach. And, several leading Congressional key contacts also reached out to targeted members of Congress directly to make our case. These engagements are especially critical to personalizing the impacts of legislation. Thank you!

For more information on our industry advocacy efforts, or to get involved, visit the Advocacy Section of the NAA website.