WMFHA Staff Attend RHALS in Chicago to Support National Advocacy Efforts and Expand Local Advocacy T
On Tuesday, August 1st, multi-family government affairs, affiliate executives and legal professionals descended upon the Omni Hotel in downtown Chicago to discuss current legislative and legal issues, exchange ideas and promote best practices to support our industry locally, statewide, and at the national level.
Topics ranged from the nationwide push for rent control at both the local and state level, to current “junk fees” discussions and the White House’s Renter’s Bill of Rights initiative. For the more legally minded attendees and our members, the discussion also covered record sealing, nonpayment, typical eviction defenses, and class action lawsuits. In addition, as seems to be everywhere these days, Artificial Intelligence (AI) also made it on the agenda.
An annual event, previously known as GART, RHALS is a half week conference designed to offer legal and advocacy education, foster cross affiliate collaboration and the exchanging of ideas. One of the most helpful and impactful parts of RHALS is the ability for state and local affiliates to highlight issues in their jurisdictions and offer their best practices to address those issues. As one might imagine, WMFHA is often the “canary in the coal mine”, educating affiliates and sometimes even our federal advocacy team of the legislative and local policies being considered or adopted long before they spread to other cities and states.