Apartment Trends Magazine June 2015 | Page 22

2014-2015 MILESTONES GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS 317 Congressman Doug Lamborn (4th from left) Mayor Michael Hancock 5 ELECTED OFFICIAL MEETINGS MEET & GREETS OR MAYOR ROUNTABLES Congressman Scott Tipton (center) Congressman Mike Coffman (center) CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS Senator Cory Gardner (4th from left) PUBLIC RELATIONS Colorado Housing Financial Assistance Guide T he Colorado Apartment Association created the Colorado Housing Financial Assistance Guide- which is available for free download on the AAMD and CAA websites. This Guide was created in part, due to the increased demand for rental housing and recent rising rents. As an industry we focused on adding to the much needed supply of for-lease multifamily housing units. For numerous reasons, the additional supply has taken longer to build and therefore is not being added to the market fast enough causing rents to rise. Elected officials, often questioned by their constituents on this dynamic, have inquired with your Association’s 20 | TRENDS • JUNE 2015 AAMD gave back over $30,000 to the following charities: Government Affairs Team regarding action steps to stop or reverse this “rising rent” trend. Seeing the need for a diversion to the unwelcome alternative of drafting rent control legislation, we created a Guide which provides over 100 resources where Coloradans can contact for assistance in legal assistance, rent or deposit assistance and utility payments. These guides were distributed to over 100 state media outlets and to over 300 Federal, State and Local elected officials. Elected officials can now take acting to assist a constituent without overreacting in an adverse manner. This community investment effort continues to assist not only government officials and their constituents, but the community as a whole. www.aamdhq.org