National Credential Courses
Letters after your name from the National Apartment Association Education Institute!
6 Credentials from the National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) are the premier offerings for multifamily housing professionals. These valuable courses increase your knowledge, demonstrate your commitment to the industry, and display the importance of developing your career. Earn these recognized and respected marks of excellence in the industry and enhance your career with WMFHA.
Upcoming credential courses
Certified Apartment Leasing Professional (CALP)
Leasing professionals are the first people prospective residents meet and are responsible for generating traffic, conducting leasing demonstrations, overcoming objections and qualifying prospective residents. This program teaches all these skills and more!
Details:
- Course Cost: $450 Members | $600 Future Members
- Prerequisites: Worked in the apartment industry for at least six months.
- Completion Requires: Seven required courses (totalling 26 hours) and meeting all examination requirements within 6 months of declaring candidacy.
- Candidacy Period: 6 months
- Exam: 120 questions; 2 hours; $50 retake fee
- Renewal: Annual fee $50; 5 Continuing Education Credits; $50 reinstatement fee
Students will learn:
- Using technology to generate traffic
- Monitoring and managing your community’s reputation
- Inspecting the leasing center, tour route, model units, and vacant apartments
- Shopping the competition while building relationships with competitors
- Compiling a comprehensive community resource tool
- Effective marketing plans
- Relationship sales process and evaluating personal sales performance
- Evaluating a prospect’s commitment level and overcoming objections
- Reviewing the next steps in the sales process with prospective residents
- Applying fair housing laws and communicating rental criteria
- Qualifying prospective residents according to rental policy
- Preparing and reviewing leases with new residents
- The move-in process
- Responding to resident issues and maintenance requests with appropriate follow-up
- Building relationships with residents and creating a sense of community
- Reporting incidents, maintaining documentation, and taking corrective action
- Maximizing revenue and operational efficiency
- Securing and processing lease renewals
- Conducting a market survey
Certified Apartment Manager (CAM)
Whether you are a property manager or new to property management, this course provides in-depth training and expertise just for you! Earning CAM credentials gives you the skills to increase your community's net operating income; the knowledge to effectively manage an apartment community; and most importantly, the ability to achieve your property owners’ investment goals.
Details:
- Course Cost: $1,550 Members | $1,850 Future Members
- Prerequisite: You must have worked in the apartment industry for at least 12 months
- Completion Requires: 8 courses listed (totalling 55 ½ hours) and all exam requirements met within 6 months of declaring candidacy.
- Candidacy Period: 6 months
- Exam: 185 questions; 4 hours; $100 retake fee
- Renewal: Annual fee $100; 8 Continuing Education Credits; $50 reinstatement fee
You will learn:
- Occupancy rates
- Comprehensive marketing plans
- Sales team management and product readiness
- Equitable treatment of current and potential residents
- Resident retention and the maintenance of a positive company image
- Consistent and ongoing resident communication
- Positive resident service and issue resolution
- Enforcement of company policy in compliance with laws and regulations
- Property inspections
- Preventive maintenance programs
- Service request process
- Apartment turnover process
- Contractors and vendors
- Recruitment, hiring, orientation and training of high-caliber employees
- Systematic employee evaluation
- Employment regulations and record keeping
- Analysis of the property’s financial operations with corrective actions for underperformance
- Monitoring of property performance to achieve the owner’s investment goals
- Accounting principles and practices
- Maximizing net operating income
- Reporting property performance honestly and accurately
Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor (CAPS)
Earning your CAPS takes you to the next level in property management. It fast-tracks your career advancement and your corresponding earning potential. The National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) offers this nationally recognized designation for multi-site supervisors and experienced apartment managers with CAM, ARM, or RAM credentials.
Details:
- Course Cost: $1,650 Members | $2,000 Future Members
- Prerequisite: Must have worked as a multi-site supervisor for 24 months or be a CAM, ARM, or RAM designate in good standing with 24 months of management experience.
- Completion Requires: Five courses listed above (totalling 40 hours) and meeting all examination requirements within 6 months of declaring candidacy.
- Candidacy Period: 6 months
- Exam: 160 questions; 4 hours; $100 retake fee
- Renewal: Annual fee $100; 8 Continuing Education Credits; $50 reinstatement fee
You will learn:
- Recruiting high-performing employees
- Employee performance, engagement, and retention
- Minimizing conflict through stakeholder communications
- Ethical behavior and conflicts of interest
- Annual operating budgets and owner performance objectives
- Property and portfolio results
- Due diligence process
- Property takeover process
- Capital improvement plans
- Managing risk through inspections, follow-up procedures, and incident reporting compliance
- Minimizing legal risk and liability
- Regulatory agency oversight of assisted housing
- Analyzing property performance data to inform action
- Management agreements
- Evaluating and reporting property performance using key performance indicators
CAPS Direct
CAPS Direct allows you to earn your CAPS credential without completing the CAPS coursework, provided you fulfill the following criteria. CAPS Direct is also available to former CAPS credential holders who have allowed their credential to lapse for more than five years.
To qualify for CAPS Direct, candidates must meet two of the following three criteria:
- Hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree with a major, minor, or concentration in property management or real estate.
- Hold a current CPM designation.
- Have over five years of experience as a multi-site portfolio supervisor.
The cost is $700, which includes the CAPS eBook and initial exam fee. The exam must be completed successfully within six months of enrollment in CAPS Direct.
Certificate for Apartment Maintenance Technicians (CAMT)
Maintenance expenses are the single largest controllable element in any operating budget. This course acts as an introduction for new maintenance professionals or as a refresher for the veteran employee, teaching what it takes to run a cost-effective maintenance program.
Details:
- Course Cost: $1,550 Member | $1,850 Future Members
- Prerequisite: Must have one year of apartment maintenance experience before being eligible to receive the certificate.
- Completion Requires: Seven courses plus online content (totalling 90.5 hours) and meeting all examination requirements within 6 months of declaring candidacy.
- Candidacy Period: 6 months
- Exam: 100 questions; 2.5 hours; $55 retake fee
- Renewal: None. This is a lifetime credential.
- Optional AIME Membership: 3 hours of approved NAAEI maintenance training + renewal fee for AIME
You will learn:
- Processing work orders correctly in a timely fashion, and to residents' satisfaction
- Electrical services and repairs
- HVAC services and repairs
- Painting services
- Construction services and repairs
- Mechanical services and repairs
- Appliance services and repairs
- Lock and key services and repairs
- Customer service and performing maintenance tasks according to company policy and procedures
- Minimizing personal and property damage while safely performing maintenance activities
- Fair housing regulation compliance
- Environmental responsibility and regulatory compliance
- Reporting and documentation of maintenance activities in compliance with company policy and regulation
- Curb appeal, property inspection, and daily maintenance
- Established procedures for maintaining recreational facilities and common areas
- Implementation of a preventive maintenance schedule
- Repair and replacement decisions
- Professional behavior patterns, communication skills, and appearance
- Clear and respectful communication with residents, team members, and contractors.
Certified Apartment Supplier (CAS)
A valued supplier partner has a deep understanding of the apartment industry. This course helps you gain that insight so you can better position your products and services to meet industry needs. This course is ideal for new salespeople and will help industry veterans gain a better understanding of how apartment communities function and the challenges they face in their day-to-day operations.
Details:
- Course Cost: $575 - Members Only
- Prerequisites: You must have completed the Supplier Success course and worked in the apartment industry for at least 12 months in a supplier role.
- Completion Requires: Four required courses (totalling 26 hours) and meeting all examination requirements within 6 months of declaring candidacy.
- Candidacy Period: 6 months
- Exam: 100 questions; 2 hours; $60 retake fee
- Renewal: Annual fee $100; 4 Continuing Education Credits; $50 reinstatement fee
You will learn:
- Applicant screening, leasing contracts, and move-ins
- Rent collection, lease renewal, the move-out process, lease termination, and eviction
- Property management systems and their functions
- How community managers create a positive fair housing environment
- Minimizing risk through inspections, preventative maintenance, safety programs, and documentation
- Addressing property and environmental hazards and crime
- Analyzing property financial operations and underperformance
- Monitoring property performance to achieve an owner's investment goals
- Maximizing net operating income