\n
Let\u2019s talk politics. You may be cringing at the thought, but if you are an avid real estate investor you should know that industry leaders and participants make their way down to the Texas State Capitol every other year to do this very thing. In fact, to say that they merely talk politics would be an understatement. On a day known as Texas Apartment Association Legislative Day, members of the Texas Apartment Association, real estate owners, and their like-minded counterparts gather to educate, lobby, and ultimately to help reform standards of regulation in the real estate field. But, of equal importance to the activism itself, are the voices behind it and what they\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n
Lifestyles Unlimited\u00ae\u2019s Lead Multi Family Mentor in Houston, John Ridgway, has such a voice and he has used it to help steer Texas\u2019 legislative bills in the right direction for the last 11 sessions. But, he wasn\u2019t always so politically active. In the mid 1990s, John was an accomplished apartment manager with 10,000 units to oversee. But it wasn\u2019t until he got some motivation from his boss that he decided to apply his talents elsewhere as Chairman of The Tarrant County Legislative Committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to my first Texas Apartment Association Legislative Day back in the mid\u2019 90s. For me the value of it is realizing what the politicians can do to our industry, what they can do to our businesses, and the power that they wield overall. It\u2019s important for us to stay on top of this proactively to protect our interests.\u201d (John Ridgway)<\/p>\n
\tMoments after explaining his outlook here, he cited an instance where his own state representative filed a bill mandating the placement of carbon monoxide detectors in every apartment unit across the county. But, what on the surface may have seemed to be a necessary increase in smoke detection standards to someone else, to John it did not compute. So, he and his peers probed further. As it turns out, this representative was admirably trying to do well on the part of one constituent who had lost his life due to smoke inhalation in an attached garage of a local apartment complex. However, the result would have been a 30 million dollar impact on the community. Furthermore, it would not make sense for 90% + of the units because they do not produce carbon monoxide, according to John. But, having access to this key representative meant they could work to find a better solution.<\/p>\n
As John delved deeper, he said that this type of legislation is only one of two parts of the TAA\u2019s lobbying efforts. This is reactive legislation where the Texas Apartment Association protects against negligent bills. As part of this process, TAA staff have to sift through anywhere from \u201csix to seven thousand bills each session,\u201d according to John. It is here where even a subtle change in wording from a bill that doesn\u2019t even necessarily pertain to the apartment industry can make all the difference. Secondarily, the TAA puts their own proactive legislation into the mix to correct errors and setbacks that have been seen since the last session. Furthermore, on TAA Legislative Day, there is even an educational session that is open to the general public where anyone can learn about the issues the TAA plans to address later that day in congress. As part of this educational opportunity, TAA lobbyists\/staff answer questions and provide information, and so does a key speaker. This year\u2019s speaker was Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.<\/p>\n
\tBut, it is the second part of the day where the lobbying actually begins. John\u2019s biggest lesson learned here: \u201cit\u2019s okay if you talk to staff.\u201d As John broke it down, he said that you don\u2019t always get to see your elected representatives, but when the staff does all of the leg work anyways, you are in no way losing if you tug their ear instead. <\/p>\n
\tMoving beyond the process, John talked about why it is so important to have actual property owners voicing their concerns when it comes to the TAA\u2019s lobbying efforts: \u201cThere\u2019s a huge difference between paid lobbying staff going into a state representative\u2019s office and going in there myself to say \u2018I live in your district. You represent me. You\u2019ve sponsored a bill that hurts my business and my ability to feed\/protect my family. Let me tell you how how this bill hurts me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
John went on to say that there was about 15 multi family owners from the Lifestyles Unlimited\u00ae membership who showed up to this year\u2019s Texas Apartment Association Legislative Day, but it was clear that he was thinking about what could be done with more. \u201cIt\u2019s strength in numbers\u201d he said as he finished his closing points \u201cand we\u2019ll take everyone we can get.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s talk politics. You may be cringing at the thought, but if you are an avid real estate investor you should know that industry leaders and participants make their way down to the Texas State Capitol every other year to do this very thing. In fact, to say that they merely talk politics would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":217691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[4856,13177,13348,482,4427,11238],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-217690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-estate","tag-investor","tag-political","tag-real","tag-stage","tag-values"],"yoast_head":"\n
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