special interest tax deductions and benefits
in the wake of tax cuts and reforms that
were enacted in December 2017.”
Finally, Congress strongly considered
attaching tax incentives to expand and
strengthen the Low-Income Housing
Tax Credit (LIHTC) in this legislative
package, but these were unfortunately not
included in the final bill. NMHC/NAA
will continue to advocate for strengthening
LIHTC by making additional resources
available to enable the production of new
units and allowing “income averaging”
to make the program more flexible and
support more mixed-income housing.
In the wake of the Equifax data breach,
Congress is focused on data security issues.
The House Financial Services Committee
is set to take up the topic in a Feb. 14
hearing titled “Examining the Current
Data Security and Breach Notification
Regulatory Regime.”
The hearing is expected to lay the ground
work for legislation that is being drafted by
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO).
www.aamdhq.org
Congress Turns To Data
Security
NAA/NMHC have been in close
contact with Rep. Luetkemeyer and other
key allies to share insights into how the
industry uses consumer data and how we
protect it. While details of the proposal
have yet to be released, NAA/NMHC have
advocated that it includes:
•
•
•
A clear Federal preemption of the
existing patchwork of often conflicting
and contradictory state data security,
privacy and breach notification laws.
A reasonable, flexible and scalable
national standard for data protection.
Specifically, when establishing
compliance obligations, this standard
must consider the needs and available
resources of small businesses as well as
large firms and the sensitivity of the
data in question.
•
A requirement that third-party service
providers must notify their customers
of any breach and allow them to notify
the consumer of the breach if they so
choose.
The House Energy & Commerce
C ommittee also shares jurisdiction on this
issue and is expected to weigh in with their
own proposal in the near future. Agreement
must be reached between the two
Committees before the full House is able to
advance any measure.
NAA/NMHC will continue to work
with Congress to create a federal data
standard that recognizes the unique nature
and needs of the rental housing industry
while ensuring the data that our members
collect, use and maintain is secure.
For more Apartment Advocate, please visit
www.naahq.org
A clear assignment of financial and
legal liability to the entity that actually
suffered the breach, particularly in the
case of third-party breaches.
MARCH 2018 • TRENDS | 43