could have the likeness of the 2008 real estate collapse, particularly with low-cost rental housing, but also with home mortgages and foreclo - sures. The CARES Act, provided an evic - tion moratorium for renters, which was continued by many municipal governments around the nation. It did not, unfortunately, provide sig - nificant aid to independent landlords who rely on rental income to pay the mortgages on their properties or to invest in upgrades to attract renters. Reviewing data, instead of relying on preconceived ideas, would have demonstrated the need to aid the independent investor market sector. The enemy is a broken system on both sides of the aisle that continues to cast aside the independent inves - tor. It is time to influence our future! FOCUS FORWARD As an industry, we must improve our standing. We should not under - estimate our collective social impact on society. We should be proud that independent investors provide stable housing at fair prices to tens of mil - lions of people across the country. Our investments improve commu - nities. And our efforts contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to local and state governments through taxes. Government will have to accept and acknowledge the impor - tance of small business, low-cost housing providers, not just as suppli - ers, but as a key to local prosperous economies. As an industry of small businesses, we need to capitalize our cumulative power to encourage government policy that supports and fosters creative solutions in the private sector. In 2021, we will leverage the impact we have as Social Entre - preneurs. We have to reconsider how we’re communicating to those
“IT IS TIME WE STAND TOGETHER AND GET WASHINGTON’S ATTENTION.”
responders while distilleries retooled and began making hand sanitizer. The benefits of capitalism allowed fair compensation for the exchange of value for undersupplied goods. Everyday citizens were suddenly considered “heroes” responding to a crisis and filling a desperate supply chain shortage. The shortage of affordable hous- ing is solvable in the same manner because it is largely a supply chain problem impacted by government rules, regulations, and policy. This is only possible if government officials are willing to make distinctions between trusting facts or fallacy among those who continue offering inaccurate advice that worsens the problem (Who would you trust with a vaccine — a lobbyist or a scientist?) If government has the courage to ask the private sector for help in solving the low-cost housing shortage, it will step us in the right direction. However, a counterbalance to the age-old narrative that government should provide low-cost housing because the private market is unable to do so must be exposed first. Gov - ernment may need to have its hand forced on the issue, which is where the private investor community steps in to become an overwhelming voice
for truth. When government realizes the private sector can be a partner, and not the enemy, big change is possible. Once private investors as a group demonstrate capacity to in - fluence public perception, politicians will want to become our partners because public perception drives voting behavior. INFLUENCE FOR NEWSUPPLY CHAINS FOR LOW-COST HOUSING It is time for government to utilize innovative thinking from the private sector for a new system to increase supply of affordable housing and to implement policy that fosters invest - ments that circulate through com - munities rather than extracting from them. It is time we stand together and get Washington’s attention. As we reviewed in last month’s column, one of the key gaps in the aid packages is the needs of the in - dependent housing provider—those who lease fewer than 50 units but who make up more than 60 percent of the available rental housing units in the nation. Failing to address the needs of these small business own- ers means that the housing industry sits on the precipice of a crisis that
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