Apartment Industry Wants Obama's Jobs Act to Better Protect Rental Industry

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Strong calls to action were made to protect rental housing as lawmakers work toward enactment of a jobs bill by the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA).

The legislative language released by the Obama Administration once again includes a tax increase on carried interest as a revenue raiser.  NMHC/NAA remind lawmakers of the devastating effect such a tax increase would have on rental housing.

While this proposal is being marketed as a "tax increase on hedge fund managers and other rich Wall Street executives," the truth is that real estate partnerships--and the estimated 550,000 workers employed by the apartment business and the 16 million Americans who rely on our industry to provide them with safe, decent affordable housing--will be very adversely affected by such a change.

Carried interest has been a fundamental part of real estate partnerships for decades.  Increasing the taxes on carried interest would not only increase the cost of producing new housing, it would decrease the supply by making many deals financially unworkable.

A carried interest tax increase would have a devastating impact on our rental housing supply at a time when demand is increasing against the backdrop of a supply shortage.

It will also kill jobs and depress income for cities and counties.  In recognition of the serious harm this legislation could have beyond Wall Street to "Main Street," in 2010 both the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties adopted official positions opposing it and urged Congress and the Administration to maintain current law as it relates to real estate partnerships.

"The apartment industry supports sound economic policy that helps restore job growth, but a tax increase on carried interest is bad for our economy and bad for our housing supply," noted Cindy Vosper Chetti, NMHC/NAA Senior Vice President for Government Affairs.

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