FORM 4 Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Expires: January 31, 2005 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5

(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * WILLIAMS JOHN A   2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol PREFERRED APARTMENT COMMUNITIES INC [APTS] 5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) __X__ Director _____ 10% Owner __X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) Chief Executive Officer (Last) (First) (Middle) PREFERRED APARTMENT COMMUNITIES, INC., 3284 NORTHSIDE PARKWAY NW, SUITE 150 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 01/02/2018 (Street) ATLANTA, GA 30327 4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 3) 2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8) 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4) 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4) 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4) Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price Common Stock, par value $0.01               1,000 D   Common Stock, par value $0.01               7,872 I By Spouse Common Stock, par value $0.01               1,081 I By 2003 Children's Trust (2) Common Stock, par value $0.01               44,765 I By NELL Partners, Inc. (1) Common Stock, par value $0.01               50 I By son

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
	Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.		SEC 1474 (9-02)

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)

2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security

3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)

3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)

4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)

5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4, and 5)

6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)

7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities (Instr. 3 and 4)

8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)

9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)

10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)

11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)

Code

V

(A)

(D)

Date Exercisable

Expiration Date

Title

Amount or Number of Shares

Class A Units (3)

(3) (4)

01/02/2018(3)(4)

A

64,699 (3) (4)

(3)(4)

(3)

Common Stock

64,699

$ 0

64,699

D

Class A Units (3)

(3) (4)

01/02/2018

S(5)

64,699 (3) (4) (5)

(3)(4)

(3)

Common Stock

64,699

$ 20.25 (5)

0

D

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
WILLIAMS JOHN A PREFERRED APARTMENT COMMUNITIES, INC. 3284 NORTHSIDE PARKWAY NW, SUITE 150 ATLANTA, GA 30327	X		Chief Executive Officer

Signatures

/s/ Jeffrey R. Sprain, attorney-in-fact		01/03/2018
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	John A. Williams, Leonard A. Silverstein and Daniel M. DuPree share joint voting and investment power over the shares held by NELL Partners, Inc. Mr. Williams disclaims any economic interest in such shares, 55% of which are owned indirectly by the Nancy Ann Richardson Williams 2017 Children's Trust, a trust created by Mr. Williams' spouse for the benefit of their children; 30% of which are owned indirectly by Northside Partners Trust, formed on November 2, 2009, a trust created by Mr. Silverstein's spouse for the benefit of their children; and 15% of which are owned indirectly by Daniel M. DuPree.
(2)	These shares are held in a trust for the benefit of the reporting person's children. The reporting person's spouse is trustee of the trust. The reporting person disclaims beneficial ownership of these securities and the filing of this report is not an admission that the reporting person is the beneficial owner of these securities for the purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.
(3)	Represents Class A Units ("Class A Units") of Preferred Apartment Communities Operating Partnership, L.P., of which Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (the "Company") is the general partner. Each Class A Unit may be exchanged for one share of the Company's common stock, or cash, as selected by the Company. Class A Units have no expiration date.
(4)	On January 3, 2017, the reporting person was awarded a maximum of 64,699 Class B Units of the Operating Partnership ("2017 Class B Units") issued in lieu of any reimbursement for annual cash compensation for 2017, subject to certain performance and time-based conditions. As of January 2, 2018, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company determined that the extent to which the performance conditions had been achieved during the performance period resulted in 100%, or 64,699 of the 2017 Class B Units becoming earned 2017 Class B Units. All of the earned 2017 Class B Units fully vested on January 2, 2018 and were converted into Class A Units on that date.
(5)	Disposition reflects a transfer for tax and estate planning purposes. Price was paid with a reduction in outstanding debt owned to the purchaser by the reporting person. Price based on the closing price of the company's common stock on December 29, 2017, the last trading date before the transfer.

Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number.