Government Affairs

NMHC is widely considered the leading national advocate for the conventional apartment industry, and our federal advocacy efforts are one of the most important contributions we make to the apartment sector. 

For three decades, NMHC has been actively involved in forming national housing policy and shaping the legislation and regulations that affect the industry.

NMHC and the National Apartment Association(NAA) unite under the auspices of the NMHC/NAA Joint Legislative Program to support legislative and regulatory policies that enable the apartment industry to provide high quality, affordable and accessible homes to the nation's 35 million renter households.

Index of Issues

NMHC's Government Affairs Staff focus on the following key policy areas.  Use our Index of Issues to learn more about these topics. 

  • Capital Markets
  • Tax
  • Energy and Environment
  • Housing Policy
  • Affordable Housing
  • Labor and Employment Practices
  • Insurance
  • Telecommunications
  • Property Management
  • Fair Housing

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We Are Apartments

To support advocacy efforts at the national, state and local levels, NMHC and NAA have launched the first part of a major national public relations campaign with the release of a landmark new report quantifying for the first time the economic impact the apartment industry and its 35 million residents have on the economy. 

The campaign includes a number of advocacy tools:

  • The Trillion Dollar Apartment Industry. Available in print and digital format, a report by George Mason University’s Stephen S. Fuller, Ph.D., which quantifies the economic impact of the apartment industry and its residents on a national, state and select metro level.
  • Apartments Work: The Policymaker’s Guide to Rental Housing. A quick, graphics-driven primer on how apartment communities are developed, built and operated, as well as all the public policies that affect our business along the way.
  • www.WeAreApartments.org. A highly interactive—and fun!—industry website wis the perfect place to learn more about the industry, as well as get highly specific information about the economic benefits of apartments in their state and local communities.
  • Interactive maps. Part of the new industry website, this map feature allows users to get state-specific and select metro-level information on the economic contribution of and jobs supported by new apartment construction, ongoing apartment operations and apartment resident spending. Includes downloadable PDFs.
    • Online economic impact calculator. ACE, or the Apartment Community Estimator, is a unique tool that allows users to estimate the dollars generated and jobs supported by the construction of a new community or operation of an existing community. Type in the number of units, click calculate and print out the results to take to your next meeting.

    Visit www.WeAreApartments.org today to see how apartments work for your community and the country.