Antitrust Compliance Statement

Antitrust and anti-competition laws prohibit agreements, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade. By participating in Greater Iowa Apartment Association (GIAA) activities, you agree to not act or fail to act in a manner that would violate these antitrust laws or cause unreasonable restraint of trade. Prohibited behavior includes, but is not limited to: discussion or sharing of any company's confidential or proprietary information, discussion or agreements, either explicit or implicit, regarding prices of particular products or services of a company, forecasting of prices for goods or services; and sharing of information that your company considers to be confidential or sensitive, even if that information does not fit in any of above categories.

Association meetings, conferences, webinars, and other gatherings, by their very nature bring competitors or potential competitors together. It is expected that all member representatives involved in GIAA activities, as well as GIAA consultants, non-members, and other participants and guests, will be sensitive to legal issues and requirements, and act in compliance with all applicable antitrust and competition laws, both at GIAA meetings and GIAA sponsored events. Accordingly, it is necessary to avoid discussions of sensitive topics that can create antitrust concerns. In general, agreements to fix prices (including elements of prices such as allowances and credit terms), to restrict capacity or output, to allocate markets (including dividing geographies, products, services, or customers), to engage in group boycotts (including refusing to deal with a third party or excluding a competitor, supplier, or customer), to rig bids, to fix employee wages, or to agree to not hire one another’s employees are violations of the antitrust laws. 

There should be no agreement or discussion relating to any of these topics. Competitors should not discuss sensitive competitive matters, including but not limited to prices, bids, quotes, competitive business plans or strategies, wages, hiring strategies, or negotiations with suppliers or customers. An antitrust violation does not require proof of a formal written agreement. Courts can infer the existence of an unlawful agreement from circumstantial evidence such as a wink or a nod of the head.  Many other types of conduct and circumstances can also tend to show the existence of such an agreement. As a result, those attending an association-sponsored meeting should remember the importance of avoiding not only unlawful activities, but even the appearance of unlawful activity.

Allegations of wrongdoing can pose financial and reputational risk, and violations of the antitrust laws and can have serious consequences for GIAA, individual companies, and their employees.   For these reasons, GIAA has a zero-tolerance policy for all behavior that is in violation of antitrust laws.

By participating in GIAA and GIAAPAC activities, you agree to comply with all applicable antitrust and competition laws. If you observe any conduct occurring at GIAA events that potentially violates the antitrust laws, speak up and insist that the conduct stop immediately.