Reflecting on 2024: TAA’s Year of Growth & Innovation
Synopsis
As 2024 winds to a close, the past twelve months have shown us a world shaped by change and uncertainty, yet one that has also been illuminated by resilience, growth, and possibilities.
Those in the Texas rental housing industry have navigated a difficult year marked by contrasts. Across Texas, a surge in new unit development coincided with higher interest rates and slowing rent growth, reshaping market dynamics. Yet, these challenges also spurred innovation, from expanding housing options to prioritizing sustainability. Shifting renter demographics and evolving market trends underscored the industry’s resilience in meeting diverse and growing demands. Throughout the seasonality of the year, the Texas Apartment Association (TAA) played a key role, providing guidance, advocacy, and solutions to help members navigate the complexities of 2024 with confidence and purpose.
While this was a non-legislative year, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the meaningful strides we took across some of our key initiatives. Here’s a snapshot of our 2024 accomplishments:
TAA Click & Lease
TAA introduced several key updates to enhance lease management. The New Master Lease Addendum and New Student Housing Lease are now available, providing clear and comprehensive documentation for property managers.
Additionally, TAA’s Class Action Waiver was upheld in a federal class action lawsuit, reinforcing the strength of the TAA Lease in protecting members.
TAA Government Relations
In 2024, TAA continued its strong advocacy for the multifamily industry by providing testimony before multiple Texas legislative committees on critical issues, including property taxes, squatters, eviction reform, housing affordability, and institutional ownership of rental homes.
Our efforts were also reflected in a successful election cycle, with 96% of TAA PAC-endorsed candidates winning their respective primary elections. In addition, over 60 meetings were held across the state to personally deliver PAC checks and strengthen relationships with local associations. TAA also launched a JP Toolkit and a TAA Message House to help local associations engage with Justices of the Peace and respond effectively to media inquiries.
Our perspectives on the legislative impacts were reflected in over twenty media inquiries, covering topics from property taxes and rent levels to evictions and rental housing fees.
Education
TAA introduced a Learning Management System (LMS) to provide on-demand online education to members. Currently offering 19 courses, the LMS will be regularly updated to keep members equipped with the latest educational content. Stay tuned for even more access to on-demand learning opportunities.
TAAEF
The Texas Apartment Association Education Foundation (TAAEF) made big strides in 2024. The career awareness campaign, Room to Grow, generated over 2 million impressions, raising awareness about the professional opportunities within the industry. Additionally, TAAEF released two new resources for TAA members, “Updating and Improving Maintenance Job Descriptions” and the new “Onboarding Essentials,” focused on helping you better recruit, retain, and advance your employees.
This year, both TAA and TAAEF have also leaned into identifying more opportunities for Emerging Leaders. In addition to another year of the Be the Next Room to Grow Ambassador video challenge and three incredible representatives with five years of industry experience or less, TAAEF launched its new “Lead the Next” Curriculum, designed for those newer to the rental housing industry to develop essential professional skills.
Marketing & Communications
TAA’s marketing and communications initiatives continue to be enhanced across content, visibility, and usability for members. This year, TAA completed 13 brand refreshes, creating a cohesive and modern identity across TAA, the TAA ONE Conference, and TAAEF, elevating the organization’s and unifying its overall presence.
The new TAA website will launch at the beginning of the year, and will continue to evolve and align with ongoing efforts associated with our strategic plan.
ONE Conference
The 2024 ONE Conference held in San Antonio was the largest in TAA’s history. The event featured several new innovations, including a paperless conference experience, new speaker management technology, self check-in registration, and mobile party tickets. Looking ahead to our 2025 ONE Conference in Houston, May 7-9, TAA has redesigned the expo layout, revamped the sponsorship program, and overhauled keynote and educational programming.
Texas Apartments Magazine is Going Digital!
Through our TAA Member Pulse Survey earlier this year, we asked for member feedback to better understand the value and future of Texas Apartments magazine. We inquired about publishing frequency, content, quality, advertising, and the format to evaluate what is most valuable to readers to help shape the future direction of the magazine. Evolving from that exercise, we are excited to share that Texas Apartments magazine is going digital! We understand that this will be a transition for our readers and sponsors, and commit to working closely with our members and local apartment associations to ensure that the change from print to digital is as smooth as possible.
From all of us at TAA, as this season of gratitude, togetherness, and cherished moments with friends and family unfolds, may you carry its warmth and joy into the coming year.