Serving the Keystone of Successful Real Estate Investing
by Carole VanSickle Ellis
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are nearly 50 million rental units across the United States, and Troy Garrett, the governmental affairs director for the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), is advocating to the benefit of the people managing every one of them — whether they know it or not.
“At NARPM, we represent our thousands of members with legislators and their staff in the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as the administration and any departments or agencies underneath,” Garrett explained. “NARPM is a permanent trade organization for the residential property management industry and fills a void by representing the managers of small residential properties.” He noted prior to the inception of NARPM in 1988, there was no national organization focused primarily on residential property management, and the organization remains the only national organization of its nature to date.
Garrett, who started out teaching political science at Virginia Tech before taking on a chief of staff position for a state delegate, joined NARPM as its government affairs director in 2021. His experience working with advocacy groups in healthcare, transportation, and housing permits him to draw on a large spectrum of experiences with factors affecting residential property management, and his own childhood spent in subsidized housing created a deep empathy for all parties that play a role in residential property management.
“Everybody needs housing, and, at a policy and legislative level, all the knowledge and experience I have gained over the years helps me do my job today,” Garrett said.
Although only just over half of all residential rental units in the United States are under formal property management of any type, NARPM prioritizes the needs of property managers, owners and investors managing their own rental portfolios, and vendors providing services to the property management industry in its advocacy and educational outreach. Housing is an acknowledged universal need, but the different parties that participate in housing policy often do not fully understand how varied facets of the industry impact each other.
Furthermore, many property owners and managers do not have access to breaking news and information about the legislative decisions that directly affect their own assets and those under management. That is where NARPM comes in.
“NARPM was born out of a need for more education, validation, networking, and recognition for [property managers],” the association’s website explains. NARPM elected its first president in 1987 and began publishing an industry newsletter and hosting a national convention and committee meetings in 1988. By 1994, NARPM had crafted its “Code of Ethics and Standards of Professionalism,” which it maintains today and uses to “help educate our membership, both new and existing.” By 2005, membership had exceeded 2,000 members, and, today, the association boasts more than 5,300 members.
“Our membership is not just property managers; we also serve investors,” Garrett noted. “This is a very broad group of people, from those who own more than 1,500 doors all the way down to investors owning and managing just two or three. We know that for many people, their rentals are their primary income each month, and often they do not realize how many legislative changes and policies could affect their residents and that income every day.”
Protecting Residents by Protecting Property Management
Each year, there are dozens of legislative and policy decisions that directly and indirectly affect property managers. In some cases, these decisions directly affect the profitability of the asset, such as changes that cause insurance premiums to rise or require new types of certifications or maintenance practices. For example, according to the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, operating expenses for rental unit owners rose by more than 7% in 2024, due, in large part, to “a significant increase in owners’ insurance premiums.”
While some policy changes and associated costs may be appropriate and necessary, NARPM’s role is to help legislators, policy makers, and property managers understand the real-life ramifications that come with often-idealistic and well-meaning policies and practice changes.
For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently adjusted the verbiage in two of the “FAQ” [frequently asked questions] answers on its website. While these changes seemed minor, the fallout from them could be mammoth. Garrett explained, “Property managers handling assets that fall into the ‘lead paint category’ [meaning the homes were built prior to 1978 and come with legally required warnings about the potential for lead paint in the property] would, as a result of these seemingly small changes, now be required to become certified in lead-paint remediation and submit fairly large volumes of complicated documentation. Previously, property managers dealing with this issue would hire a company certified in lead remediation to do necessary work and handle documentation and filing after the work was completed.”
The change placed a large and unnecessary burden on landlords and property managers without necessarily improving resident protections, and some states have begun auditing property managers and rental portfolios in order to identify violations and issue fines that, in some cases, have totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It is a compounding issue,” Garrett said. “It does not help the small business owners who are in the business of providing housing to those who need it, and it does not help the residents either.” He noted many investors and property managers are not even aware of the FAQ changes, which were considered relatively small when implemented and not highly publicized. “There was no media rollout, even though the consequences are pretty dire,” he observed.
NARPM is currently working with other groups like the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to ensure owners and property managers are educated about the changes, but the association is also working to have the wording adjusted as well.
“We are happy to be working on this,” Garrett said. “It is an issue we are proud to make a difference on, and we are dedicated to letting the federal government know what is happening at a state level so it can get involved and property managers can get back to serving their clients.”
A Membership Growing in Size & Voice
Garrett said one of the most important things to know about NARPM is that the association is serving the entire industry — and property management affects far more parties than simply official property managers.
“Our membership is not just made up of property managers,” he said. “We are also investors and vendors who work with property managers because those populations are a part of the industry.”
This widely varied population of members keeps NARPM’s activities both effective and relevant in today’s quickly changing real estate environment, Garrett said.
“You want an association that has all viewpoints weighing in on issues, and we have a very robust committee structure dedicated to advocacy at a local and national level,” he added. NARPM’s stated mission is to “support and empower professionals to elevate the property management industry through professional development, advocacy, and community,” and the association’s vision is that “property management professionals will be recognized as the keystone of effective investing.”
To that end, Garrett said, NARPM is only as effective as its membership and, additionally, as its industry audience. “We want everyone from the largest investor to the smallest property manager joining our group because that makes us a better association,” he said. “Wherever your passion is, that is where you will fit in here.”
Another way in which NARPM protects property managers while cultivating a stronger real estate space and working to insulate asset owners from well-meaning but detrimental legislation is in the eviction moratorium arena. In the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government and state governments passed sweeping eviction moratoria designed to prevent lockdown policies from causing mass evictions. However, Garrett noted, most of these policies did not include written sunset protocols for required 30-day notices to vacate even though they did provide guidance for sunsetting the eviction moratoria themselves.
“For individuals who own only a few doors, adding an additional 30 days to what has already been a long process during which there has been no monthly income from a property can be extremely detrimental,” Garrett said. “It is not good for the property owners, and it is not good for the residents in the long run, either.”
He added NARPM is currently working with a sitting congressman to support and pass the Respect State Housing Laws Act, which seeks to remove the federally mandated, COVID-era 30-day notice requirement and return eviction policies to state and local control.
A Core Belief in Keeping Members Informed
At any given time, NARPM is actively involved in monitoring dozens of trends and tracking the evolutions and outcomes of dozens of items of legislation. At present, the association has issued more than two dozen policy statements on legislation and regulations affecting property managers, and those positions are updated and broadcast via a weekly membership “blast” designed to keep all NARPM members informed and ready to act if necessary.
NARPM is currently monitoring ADA lawsuit reform, assistance animal policies and procedures, carbon monoxide detector policies, common interest communities, criminal activity in rental housing, discriminatory real estate taxes and fees, disparate impact issues, eviction policies, federal and state tax incentives, flood insurance practices, health care policies, institutional investment policies, lead-based paint policies and protocols, local land use policies, low-income housing tax credits, occupancy standards, pandemic response, rent control, rental assistance policies, rental assistance demonstration (RAD) programs, inspection and registration ordinances, renter commissions, short-term rental policies, Section 8 and source of income, tort reform, toxic mold, and transportation trends.
Garrett noted he and his colleagues are always watching for industry-relevant trends to emerge from broader headlines. For example, they monitor how oil prices or new tariff policies affect shipping costs, which can impact how easily property managers are able to replace appliances or conduct needed repairs.
“As issues come to light or we start seeing changes in the industry as a result of how an issue is addressed, we get that information back out to members to let them know to start monitoring the situation as well,” Garrett said.
“Sometimes, they may decide to tighten their pocketbook or loosen it up, depending on which way things go. Our main concern is to get them the information they need. They know how to run their businesses. We just want to make sure they have the information
they need to run their businesses well.”
Sidebar 1
By the Numbers
1 // NARPM is the only national organization focused primarily on residential property management.
5,300 // There are more than 5,300 individual members of NARPM in the United States, Canada, and around the world
3 // NARPM offers three levels of membership: Professional, Support Staff, and Affiliate.
6 // NARPM offers six designations and certifications, which are earned through education, experience, and service:
» Residential Management Professional (RMP)
» Master Property Manager (MPM)
» Certified Residential Management Company (CRMC)
» Certified Support Specialist (CSS)
» Certified Maintenance Coordinator (CMC)
» Certified Residential Management Bookkeeper (CRMB)
11 // NARPM’s news magazine, Residential Resource, is published 11 times each year.
3 // ARPM provides three different types of annual conferences:
» The NARPM Annual Convention & Trade Show
» The NARPM Broker/Owner Conference & Expo
» State Conferences
Sidebar 2
Keeping the Focus on Property Management
There are thousands of associations throughout the United States dedicated to serving various elements of the real estate industry. There are apartment associations, real estate investor associations (REIAs), investment managers’ associations, sector-specific associations, and many, many more. However, outside of the National Association for Residential Property Managers (NARPM), there is no national organization dedicated to the residential property management industry.
“There are a lot of other associations that do a lot of great things, but NARPM’s primary focus is on the property management industry and everyone associated with it,” said Troy Garrett, NARPM’s governmental affairs director. “That focus allows us to really delve into the deep issues a lot of other associations cannot because they do not have the bandwidth.”
Since 1988, NARPM has dedicated its efforts to educating its members not just on legislative changes and policies affecting their practices, but also on the best ways to conduct the business of property management. Today, the association also offers a raft of continuing education property management courses taught by experienced, active NARPM members and principals in their own property management companies. Classes are offered online, in person, and onsite at individual chapters.
In 2025, NARPM is, once again, undergoing a substantive evolution as it initiates a process members call “NARPM 2.0.” Garrett explained, “We are shifting the process so that the board and leadership set the strategic vision, then staff implement that with the backing of committees in a structure that ensures industry needs are being met.” He added, “This will allow for a sleeker, faster association where decisions can be made quickly. That enables us to better respond to a quickly changing environment and economy.”
