Most NARPM members have no idea their association is run by a management company. Until Tracy Streich spent the better part of a year bringing me up to speed, I didn't fully understand how it worked either. Tracy owns Renters Place in Tulsa, serves as NARPM's treasurer, and becomes president-elect in 2027 (then president in 2028). He's also now a two-time guest, so I asked him to walk me through everything that's changing inside NARPM, and what he plans to do about it.

Why NARPM Changed Management Companies After 20 Years

NARPM's board is 100% volunteer. The board sets direction, and an association management company actually does the work. As Tracy put it, you don't want him trying to run Renters Place and NARPM at the same time, because both would suffer.

For roughly 20 years, that management company was OMG. The board brought in an outside consultant, who confirmed what the board already suspected: OMG did a great job getting NARPM to where it is today, but it wasn't the partner to take NARPM to the next level. After an in-depth search, the board hired MCI. The contract officially starts January 1, but MCI is already running NARPM National this October.

The difference in resources is striking. Under OMG, NARPM had one event planner, and everyone else pitched in at conferences. MCI has seven and a half full-time equivalents working on conferences and vendors alone, and plans for 15 to 20 staff on site. Tracy calls this year's National their "practice run," since they only had about 75 days of runway. Next year's Broker Owner (back in Vegas, after NARPM outgrew the planned Tucson venue) is where he expects them to really shine.

NARPM Has Money. The Question Is What to Do With It.

When OMG took over, NARPM had zero dollars in the bank. Today, it has millions. Tracy credits OMG's financial discipline as the top item on its legacy, along with vendors who sponsor conferences and keep costs down for members.

Then he told me something I had no idea about. When members link their NARPM account to their Home Depot Pro account, Home Depot pays NARPM royalties. The most recent quarterly check was just under $300,000.

That money matters, because advocacy isn't cheap. Tracy said NARPM's lobbying budget (a couple of full-time lobbyists, office space, travel) runs just under half a million dollars a year, before a single dollar goes to political campaigns. A specialist on NARPM's EPA project costs another $60,000 a year.

As treasurer, Tracy also consolidated NARPM's reserves from CDs at two institutions into one investment firm with an advisor at Morgan Stanley. His bigger point: NARPM has operated with a scarcity mentality for too long. It has way more than it needs in reserves, and some of that money is now earmarked for a rebrand (the current logo is hunter green and burgundy, which Tracy says looks like 1994, and I have to agree) and a new website.

Where I Think the Money Should Go: On Offense

Here's where I got on my soapbox. Keeping money for a rainy day makes sense, but it's raining. City by city and state by state, landlord laws are getting worse, and I'd argue many of them are unconstitutional on their face, raising takings and free speech issues. The problem is that fighting them is so expensive, with no guarantee of winning, that it makes zero sense for any individual property manager to try. So everyone just complies.

What I'd like to see: a member deliberately doesn't comply with a law we believe is unconstitutional, with NARPM and partner organizations agreeing in advance to fund the defense. When the inevitable lawsuit comes, we bring in the best lawyers we can find and take it all the way to the state supreme court, and further if necessary. Ohio made rent control illegal at the state level within the last couple of years. I want more of that. Right now our whole posture is defensive, celebrating that laws weren't as bad as they could have been. I want the other side saying that about us.

Tracy's response was a good one: write it up and send it to the board. NARPM's accounting standards started as a member proposal, and starting in January, the board can hand a project like this to MCI to price out. He also pointed to work NARPM is already doing in DC alongside NAR and IREM, plus the new legal hotline with Monica Gilroy, which got more calls in its first month than he expected.

79% of Owners Say They'd Leave If AI Made It Easier

Tracy is co-presenting new research from AppFolio and NARPM at National, based on surveys of roughly 750 property managers and 650 property owners. He gave me one teaser. When asked how likely their clients were to switch to self-management if AI made it easier, property managers said 36%. When owners were asked the same question, 79% said likely or very likely.

He also said only about 7% of property managers are using agentic AI. Running your emails through Claude so you don't sound like a jerk isn't innovation. Owners assume you're already doing that.

This lines up with what I've been saying all year. Owners are using AI to cut costs the same way we are, and our fee is a line item they can see. Software like TurboTenant and Hemlane is creating a third option between self-managing and hiring a full-service PM. I was glad to see the research confirm it, and also a little terrified.

The good news: our PM Trends 2026 survey found rental owners overwhelmingly comfortable with property managers using AI. Tracy and I agreed there's no reason to hide it. Tell owners what you're using and how it helps them.

Funny enough, Renters Place is growing faster than ever. After sitting at 725 doors "forever," Tracy's now just shy of 1,000, with a lot of the new business coming from self-managers who got tired of doing it themselves. And yes, he's also getting AI-written security deposit disputes from tenants, three in a single day.

A New Executive Director, and Getting the Word Out

With OMG out, NARPM is also getting new leadership. Gail, a part owner of OMG, served as NARPM's "CEO," and her short-lived successor, Troy, left once the MCI decision was announced. The new hire will carry the more traditional title of Executive Director. MCI ran a nationwide search, sifted through what I believe was hundreds of applications, narrowed them to 10 to 15, and brought two finalists to a task force that includes Tracy and me. I have high standards for hiring, and I was blown away by both. The new ED will be an MCI employee, but both candidates gave the right answer when asked who they work for: the board.

Tracy wants that person to be the face of NARPM. He also wants a dedicated business development role working booths at IMN, AppFolio, Rentvine, and Rent Manager conferences. As he put it, if someone manages 1,800 doors and has never heard of NARPM, that's NARPM's fault. By my research, there are roughly 31,000 NARPM-qualified PM companies in the US, and membership sits around 5,000 companies. MCI's contract now includes growth KPIs for the first time.

Add a Zero

NARPM has two ways to give. The political action fund is tightly regulated and, as Tracy explained, buys access to legislators rather than votes. The advocacy fund is more flexible and covers things like the EPA consultant.

My pitch to NARPM: stop anchoring donations to "the cost of a cup of coffee." That anchors people at $2.50. The "major donor" tier starts at around $1,000 (I'm a major donor, which tells you how low the bar is). Add a zero to every tier. Give donors a way to show off their support. Tracy suggested a jacket like the green jacket at the Masters, which I love. And hire someone to call past major donors. I gave last year and never got a single follow-up.

NARPM dues are still the same as when Tracy joined in 2012. Membership is cheap. Giving should be easy, and it should feel like it matters.

The Takeaway

NARPM has more money, more staff, and a more ambitious board than at any point I can remember. Tracy has said he won't accept looking back two years from now at 15% of the strategic plan completed. Whether members actually feel the difference comes down to whether NARPM spends what it's built.

Watch the full conversation with Tracy: