APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION
Regulatory Wins: Supporting Housing Affordability and Lowering Costs Through Deregulation
Bolstering the industry’ s long-term viability, NAA is leading the way toward responsible housing policy solutions.
BY NICOLE UPANO
While often wellintentioned, industry regulations come with a costly price tag for both renters and rental housing providers alike. New research from MetroSight reveals that overregulation can negatively impact rental housing affordability by increasing operating costs, discouraging new construction, increasing the cost of housing and limiting its accessibility and availability for Americans.
Earlier this year, the National Apartment Association( NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council( NMHC) took action and sent a letter to the White House requesting a thorough review of 32 federal programs, rules and regulations at 10 different agencies – the ultimate goal: to increase housing supply, lower costs and improve housing affordability.
“ NAA members have made it clear: less regulation opens the door to providing more housing,” said NAA President & CEO Bob Pinnegar.“ Reviewing these federal compliance burdens would be a solid first step towards allowing the private sector to build and operate without the financial and administrative costs of overregulation.”
REGULATORY VICTORIES
Since January, NAA – alongside real estate industry coalition partners – has secured critical wins for the rental housing industry. As always, bolstering housing affordability and lowering costs remain the focus of NAA’ s advocacy. Key wins, as of early May, 2025, include:
• FHFA Rescinds Duplicative Landlord-Tenant Requirements: The Federal Housing Finance
Agency( FHFA) rescinded its directive imposing three new federally-mandated landlordtenant requirements on covered multifamily housing financed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac( the Enterprises), which would have required changes to millions of leases.
• Momentum for Housing on Federal Lands: In March, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development( HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and U. S. Department of the Interior( DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum announced the Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing. The Task Force aims to find federal land vacancies that can be used for new affordable housing units, assisting with land transfer operations, streamlining regulations and increasing awareness for the urgent need for more housing.
• HUD Rescinds Two Rules: HUD terminated the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule. In December, under the Biden
Administration, the Agency also rescinded a proposed rule on criminal screening. Under the Trump Administration, the Agency has removed many guidance documents and notices related to rental housing. NAA continues to monitor closely for rulemakings to be formally withdrawn and removed from the Federal Register.
• BOI Scope Dramatically Limited: The Beneficial Ownership Information( BOI) pause on reporting enforcement for U. S. companies has been made permanent with FinCEN’ s issuance of an interim final rule taking effect on March 26, 2025. The interim final rule dramatically reduces the rule’ s scope of what BOI is subject to disclosure.
• Revisiting“ Waters of the United States:” The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency( EPA) announced that it will work with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers( Army Corps) to review the definition of“ Waters of the United States”( WOTUS) to
44 | TRENDS JUNE 2025 www. aamdhq. org