IPA Convenes Industry to Tackle Top Advocacy Issues
Colleagues,
We want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who were able to join us during our IPASummit event last month and share a recap on what we accomplished. We also want to thank those of you who attended last week’s 1031 Advocacy Workshop to discuss our ongoing advocacy and media strategy in defense of Section 1031 like-kind exchanges.
During IPASummit, thought leaders from the IPA community discussed the most salient issues impacting our industry. We met virtually with key members of Congress and their staff to discuss the current political and regulatory environment, as well as advance our critical industry advocacy initiatives.
Our event included eight sessions focused on the intersection of policy and the initiatives critical to the evolution of our industry, such as straight-through processing and industry data and research. All sessions, including keynote addresses featuring Frank Kelly, Jon Boughtin, and Kevin Gannon are available on our website to IPA members. We encourage our members to watch the replays, which are available on our website with your login credentials. (**IPA members: free access to replays contact us for credentials.**)
We continue to focus on the following four topics immediately impacting our industry:
1031 Like-Kind Exchanges:
1031 like-kind exchanges have been an integral part of our country’s real estate fabric for 100 years. However, the Biden Administration has proposed eliminating like-kind exchanges for gains greater than $500,000. Our team met with key Congressional leaders to discuss the importance of exchanges, urging opposition to any reduction or elimination of this program. Our message continues to resonate with lawmakers, but there is still work to do as an association and with our broader coalition to protect like-kind exchanges. If you have not done so already, we encourage you to take action on our website and contact your Congressional delegates reminding them of this important tax provision and why it should be preserved in its current form.
Just last week, IPA thought leaders met in Dallas, Texas for a 1031 Advocacy Workshop to continue to refine our advocacy strategy. Following the workshop, our members have been actively engaged in additional, proactive actions and tools to engage members of Congress, their constituents and the broader public.
The IPA, along with our coalition, has also participated in 40 meetings with Democratic lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, including the Committee tax writing staff to discuss the importance of 1031 like-kind exchanges. We also supported a recent Congressional staff briefing, which was moderated by Jeff DeBoer of the Real Estate Roundtable, and included the mayor of Naperville, Illinois, Steve Chirico; Syracuse University Professor Milena Petrova; Marcus & Millichap CEO Hessam Nadji and Ernst & Young Co-Director Robert Carroll. This briefing is now available on our 1031 resources page.
As a reminder, in April, the IPA also brought together industry stakeholders to discuss and underscore the importance of like-kind exchanges to the U.S. economy at the IPAConnect 1031/Qualified Opportunity Zones Due Diligence Symposium.
To stay apprised of like-kind exchange market updates, visit our website dedicated to 1031 like-kind exchange advocacy, where you can directly engage with your members of Congress to support and preserve this important tax provision and find the latest research and commentary on Section 1031 from across the industry.
FIRPTA Parity: As we highlighted in our latest FIRPTA Advocacy Alert, the IPA and our FIRPTA Task Force are extremely proud that H.R. 3123, the “Parity for Non-Traded REITs Act,” was officially introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Darin LaHood (R-IL). We’ve been working closely with Reps. Suozzi, LaHood and others to develop this legislation to advance parity between non-traded REITS and exchange traded REITs in the Internal Revenue Code and look forward to moving this legislation forward. Our Congressional meetings were focused on adding additional co-sponsors to H.R. 3123, and introducing a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.
To learn more about how a small change to FIRPTA is set to modernize our industry, check out my recent guest column featured on the DI Wire.
COVID Rental Assistance: To address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has imposed an eviction moratorium until June 30, 2021 and made more than $45 billion available for rent relief. We appreciate the support Congress has enacted for rental assistance and applaud the recent Treasury FAQs on the emergency rental assistance program as a good first step to address some of the questions about the program. The IPA asked Congressional leaders, however, to urge the Treasury Department to continue to streamline the process for distributing rental assistance payments, and to vigorously oversee the distribution of those payments to assure payments are made to landlords for past due rents and other housing costs. We also urged Congress to end the federal eviction moratorium.
Retirement Security: Portfolio diversifying investments (PDIs) enable investors to effectively balance their portfolios and improve risk-adjusted returns, important goals for all investors, including Americans saving for retirement. The IPA has undertaken a sustained effort to addressing the regulatory barriers that currently prevent savers from accessing PDIs through their workplace retirement plans, including a series of educational conversations with lawmakers last month. The IPA reminded lawmakers that through modernizing the defined contribution system, including by allowing access to real estate, public and private credit and other real assets, American retirement savers can support economic recovery and new infrastructure initiatives, while also achieving better diversification and growth opportunities in their retirement plans.
Although the bell’s already been rung for this year’s IPASummit, our work in Washington continues. We are actively engaged on each of these priority issues and have already held additional meetings with members of Congress.
Our additional policy priorities for this year include fiduciary standards, ongoing regulatory guidance, and as always, a proactive approach to educate and inform policymakers—at the state and federal level—to build a deep understanding of our industry. As the second half of this year unfolds we expect fiduciary standards to take a greater prominence in our advocacy work, especially as regulatory agencies add new senior staff.
We encourage you all to visit IPA.com regularly where you can gain inside access to real-time industry advocacy and stay apprised on IPA activities.
Finally, a sincere thank you to our dedicated members and team at Gray Robinson for their ongoing support and their commitment to helping advance our industry, which make all of this work possible.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Tony or me.
Anya Coverman
SVP, Government Affairs and General Counsel,
Institute for Portfolio Alternatives