ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act; federal legislation
providing equal rights for individuals with disabilities
ADAAG
Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility
Guidelines; a set of ADA compliance guidelines issued by HUD for new
construction and rehabilitation
ADT
Average daily traffic
AIMS
Apartment Industry Mobilization Service; the National Apartment Association
(NAA)/National Multi Housing
Council (NMHC) Joint Legislative Program’s computer-based system
that provides members with up-to-date information on legislation which
affects the multifamily housing industry. AIMS staff monitors daily
activities in Washington D.C., to identify events which are important to
multifamily housing. The AIMS network helps members contact, develop
relationships, and work with elected officials and other who influence
decisions that affect the industry
AMO
Accredited Management Organization; the Institute of
Real Estate Management’s (IREM’s)
professional designation for management organizations
AMPO
Amount to make the project operational
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
ARM
Accredited Resident Manager; IREM’s professional
designation program for resident managers
BOCA
Building Officials and Code Administrators International;
one of the three model building code organizations and a member of the
International Code Council (ICC)
BOMA
Building Owners and Managers Association; BOMA,
Washington, D.C., represents the apartment and office management
industries, with 100 federated associations in the United States, Canada,
and around the world
CAD
Cash available for distribution; a definition widely
used in the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry to evaluate equity
REITs. CAD is defined as funds from operations (FFO) less estimated capital
expenditures
CAM
Certified Apartment Manager; the National Apartment
Association’s professional designation program for apartment managers
CAMT
Certified Apartment Maintenance Technician; the
National Apartment Association’s professional designation program for
apartment service technicians
CERCLA
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and
Liability Act; a federal law, enacted in 1980, and reauthorized by the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, which imposes on
owners, lenders, occupants, and operators liability for correcting
environmental problems discovered on a property
CGL
Comprehensive general liability insurance
CPM
Certified Property Manager; IREM’s professional
designation program for property managers
CRS
Certified Residential Specialist; designation offered
by the Realtors National Marketing Institute
EA
Environmental Assessment
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and
amortization; a financial measure used in assessing the operating
performance of an equity REIT. EBITDA provides a basis for evaluation the
ability of a REIT to incur and service debt and to fund acquisitions,
capital expenditures, and make distributions to shareholders
EIS
Environmental impact statement; a report that includes
a detailed description of a proposed development project with emphasis on
the existing environmental setting, viewed from both local and regional
perspectives, and a discussion of the probable impact of the project on the
environment during all phases
Enterprise Zone
An approach to urban renewal
EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; a federal agency
responsible for such pollution control activities as air and water
pollution, solid waste management, pesticides, radiation, and noise FCRA
Fair Credit Reporting Act; new amendments affective
September 30, 1997, were designed to promote accuracy and ensure privacy of
the information used in consumer credit reports
FHAG
Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines; a set of fair
housing compliance guidelines issued by HUD for new construction and
rehabilitation
FFO
Funds from operations; a definition widely used in the
REIT industry to evaluate equity REITs. FFO approximately equals net
income, calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, and adds back real estate related depreciation and amortization
FHA
Federal Housing Administration; a federal agency
established to encourage improvement in housing standards and conditions,
to provide an adequate home financing system through the insurance of
housing mortgages and credit, and to exert a stabilizing influence on the
mortgage market
Fair Housing Act
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act which makes discrimination
based on race, color, sex, familial status, handicap, religion, or national
origin illegal in connection with the sale or rental of dwellings and
vacant land offered for residential construction or use
FHLMC
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac),
Washington, D.C.; a federally chartered corporation established for the
purpose of purchasing mortgages in the secondary market
FMV
Fair Market Value
FNMA
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Washington,
D.C.; established by Congress in 1938 to acquire government-insured
mortgages through the FHA, Fannie Mae buys single and multifamily mortgages
from a network of more than 3,000 mortgage lenders nationwide, financed by
selling debt and mortgage-backed securities to private investors
GIM
Gross income multiplier; a numerical factor that
expresses the relationship of gross income to sales price or value. It is
calculated by dividing price by gross annual income
GRM
Gross rent multiplier; a rule of thumb for estimating
the market value of income- producing residential property. It is derived
by using comparable sales divided by the actual or estimated monthly
rentals to arrive at an acceptable average
HOME
Home Investment Partnership Act; a housing assistance
program, primarily for state and local governments, established under Title
II of the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. HOME funds may be used
for resident-based assistance, housing rehabilitation, a limited amount of
new construction, neighborhood revitalization, and housing those with
special needs
HOPE
Home Ownership for People Everywhere; a housing
assistance program established under Title IV of the National Affordable
Housing Act of 1990
HUD
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Washington, D.C.; a federal cabinet department active in national housing
programs such as urban renewal, public housing, model cities,
rehabilitation loans, FHA-subsidy programs, and water and sewer grants
HVAC
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
IBC
International Building Code; a new international
standard building code under development by the International Code Council
(ICC) which will incorporate all current building codes and comply with the
Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act
ICBO
International Conference of Building Officials; one of
the three model building code organizations and a member of the
International Code Council (ICC)
ICC
International Code Council; group which encompasses
all three of the model building code organizations and is developing the
new International Building Code (IBC)
IFC
International Fire Code
IREM
Institute of Real Estate Management, Chicago,
Illinois; a national organization concerned with professional management of
real estate. An affiliate of the National Association of Realtors
IROC
Independent Rental Owners Committee of the National
Apartment Association; a networking and information exchange group for
small volume multifamily property owners
LIHTC
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit; this federal program
was created under the 1986 Tax Reform Act with the intention of promoting
affordable housing by offering 10-year tax credits for investors
Lease-Up
The time following new construction, renovation, or
repositioning that is required for the property to reach specified
occupancy and income levels
MBA
Mortgage Bankers Association of America, Washington,
D.C. MBA is a nationwide organization devoted exclusively to the field of
real estate finance. Members include mortgage banking companies, commercial
banks, savings and loan associations, mortgage brokers, title companies,
state housing agencies, investment banks, and REITs
MHI
Multifamily Housing Institute, Washington, D.C.; a
nonprofit research and educational organization
MXD
Mixed use development; the use of real property for
more than one use, such as combining retail, office, and residential
NAA
National Apartment Association, Alexandria, Virginia.
The largest national organization dedicated solely to rental housing,
representing more than 28,000 rental housing professionals holding
responsibility for approximately 3.4 million apartments nationwide. NAA
lobbies for the industry on the national, state, and local levels, provides
education programs, publishes Units magazine and other industry
publications, conducts an annual Education Conference and Expo, provides a
broad range of business services for members, and promotes industry
professionalism
NAHB
National Association of Home Builders, Washington,
D.C.; represents more than 155,000 member firms involved in all phases of
the residential and light commercial construction industries
NAIOP
National Association of Industrial and Office
Properties, Washington, D.C.; a network of chapters serving real estate
developers, owners, investors, asset managers, and associated industry
professionals throughout the United States and Canada
NALP
National Apartment Leasing Professional; the National
Apartment Association's professional designation program for leasing
consultants
NAR
National Association of Realtors, Chicago, Illinois;
NAR provides education, research, and an exchange of ideas among its
Realtor and Realtor-Associate members, the public, and government
NAREIT
National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts,
Washington, D.C.; national trade association for the REIT Industry, made up
of public and private REITs and individuals with an interest in the REIT
and real estate investment industries
NFPA
National Fire Protection Association
NMHC
National Multi Housing Council, Washington, D.C.;
represents the interests of the firms participating in the multifamily
rental housing industry
NOI
Net operating income
Normal Wear and Tear
Ordinary damage that occurs in an apartment during the
term of the lease
Notice to Pay or Quit
A legal notice to the resident to pay delinquent rent
or leave the apartment
NRC
National Realty Committee, Washington, D.C.; serves as
a leading public policy advocate for capital, credit, tax, environmental,
and investment-related issues
NTO
National Tenants Organization; represents the
interests and position of residents before government agencies and also
serves as an information source concerning resident activities
Occupancy Rate
Ratio of rentable units to total rentable units
Per-Unit Cost Method
A method for calculating a property management fee
based on the direct cost of managing a specific number of rental units
PSF
Per square foot
PUD
Planned unit development; a new concept in housing
designed to produce a high density of dwellings and maximum use of open
spaces. The concept is an "overlay" zoning, which enables a
developer to obtain a higher density (and sometimes a mixed use for
commercial and industrial) than is permitted by the underlying zoning
RAM
Registered Apartment Manager; the National Association of Home
Builder's professional designation program for apartment managers
REIT
Real estate investment trust; a method of pooling
investment money using the trust form of ownership. Rent Roll List of
residents showing the unit occupied, rent, term of lease, and security
deposit paid for each. The term comes from an early English law when rents
were listed on a parchment roll
Repair and Deduct
Doctrine under which a resident makes repairs and
deducts the cost of the repairs from the rent. This only applies when the
property owner fails to respond to maintenance requests within a reasonable
time
Resident Manager
The person who is directly responsible for leasing,
maintenance, and other on-site functions; also known as the on-site manager
ROC
Rental Owners Course; NAA education course designed to
educate owners of properties of fewer than 100 units on the basics of
property management
SARA
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986;
This amendment to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) focuses on the cleanup of releases of
hazardous substances on property. It creates significant legal exposure
based on strict liability for owners and sometimes lenders
SBCCI
Southern Building Code Congress International; one of
the three model building code organizations and a member of the
International Code Council (ICC)
Security Deposit
An amount of money paid by the resident to the
property owner used to cover damages, cleaning, and unpaid rent after the
resident moves
Service
Maintenance Response for service initiated by the resident
SMSA
Standard metropolitan statistical area; a designation
given by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to counties with
at least one central city of 50,000 or more residents. The SMSA designation
is often used as a qualifying standard for governmental grants such as the
Community Development Block Grant
URLTA
Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; a uniform
act intended to provide some consistency in regulating the relationship of
the owner/manager and the resident in the residential leases. A number of
states have adopted all or part of the act or passed similar legislation.
published in the 2000 NAA/NSC buyers guide, a supplement to
“Units” magazine
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