Postal Reform Could Impact Apartment Industry

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWritten by Forrest Wall, CAE, Staff Vice President and Industry Relations

Federal legislative efforts to address the deepening financial woes of the United States Postal Service (USPS) may have an impact on some in the apartment industry. HR 2748, the Postal Reform Act of 2013, was introduced on July 19 and would adopt provisions to favor centralized delivery service for both residential and commercial customers. These provisions include a mandate to convert 30 million addresses from individual delivery to a central location by 2022. This plan would direct local postmasters to seek candidates for a voluntary conversion. This legislation comes as the USPS has already initiated an internal effort whereby local postmasters in select parts of the country have noticed apartment owners of plans to consolidate delivery to cluster box units. Thus far USPS has publically stated it will pay for a voluntary conversion in an apartment community, but the National Apartment Association has requested clarification from USPS on the policy and its process to appeal delivery decisions.

 Help AAM-PAC Make A Difference!

The policies pursued by our state elected leaders can have a swift and significant impact on your operations and profitability. One great way to have your voice heard in the political process is to support AAM-PAC. AAM-PAC is the Apartment Association’s political action committee, which utilizes contributions from members and aggregates them into one fund. This fund is used to financially support those elected officials who understand the importance of rental housing in Michigan’s economy.

In the era of term limits, AAM’s role in educating our current and future legislators about rental housing issues has never been more important. Some of the issues AAM is working on currently include:

  • Apartment Inspection Law Reform – AAM legislation seeks to put limits on registration fees as well as inspection fees, and extend inspection cycle timeframes
  • Excessive Water Billing
  • Landlord/Tenant Law Improvements

Remember, AAM-PAC contributions must be made via personal, partnership, or LLP check or credit cards. Please contact me at 248-862-1004 to make your contribution today!

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