UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): July 19, 2013

Landmark Apartment Trust of America, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (804) 237-1335

Former name or former address, if changed since last report: Not Applicable

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

The information set forth below under Item 5.03 regarding the amendment to the Agreement of Limited Partnership of Landmark Apartment Trust of America Holdings, LP, which is the operating partnership of Landmark Apartment Trust of America, Inc. (the “Company”), is incorporated herein by reference.

As previously disclosed in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 5, 2013 (the “Form 8-K”), on June 28, 2013, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell, for cash, to iStar Apartment Holdings LLC (“iStar”), a Delaware limited liability company and an affiliate of iStar Financial Inc., and BREDS II Q Landmark LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“BREDS”, and together with iStar, the “Investors”), an aggregate of up to $219 million in shares of the Company’s 8.75% Series D Cumulative Non-Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Series D Preferred Stock”). As further disclosed in the Form 8-K, the Company made the initial issuance of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock to the Investors for an aggregate of $98,583,000 in proceeds on June 28, 2013. Pursuant to the terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement, during a period of up to six months from the date thereof, the Company can require the Investors to purchase, on the same pro rata basis as their initial purchase of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, up to an aggregate of 12,041,700 additional shares of Series D Preferred Stock for cash at a price of $10.00 per share, for an aggregate of $120,417,000.

On July 23, 2013, and in accordance with the terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company issued and sold, for cash, to (i) iStar 3,594,000 additional shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, at $10.00 per share, and (ii) BREDS 1,797,000 additional shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, at $10.00 per share, for aggregate of $53,910,000 in proceeds. The proceeds from the sale of the Series D Preferred Stock will be used by the Company to acquire and renovate additional multi-family properties.

The shares of Series D Preferred Stock were issued and sold by the Company in a private placement pursuant to Section 4(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933, as amended.

On July 19, 2013, the Board of Directors of the Company appointed Mr. Peter Sotoloff as a member to the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Sotoloff was appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors as the director designated by BREDS pursuant to the terms of that certain Amended and Restated Corporate Governance Agreement among the Company and the parties thereto, a summary description of the material terms of which appears in Item 1.01 of the Form 8-K, and is incorporated by reference herein. Mr. Sotoloff was also appointed to the Company’s Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Special Committee of the Board of Directors.

Additionally, on July 19, 2013, the Company’s Board of Directors appointed Mr. David St. Pierre as a member to the Board, effective as of August 1, 2013.

2

Messrs. Sotoloff and St. Pierre are each an “independent director,” with independence being determined under the standards established by the New York Stock Exchange.

Messrs. Sotoloff and St. Pierre are eligible to participate in the Company’s director compensation program, the terms of which are described in the Company’s Definitive Proxy Materials on Schedule 14A for the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders held on June 26, 2012.

On July 22, 2013, the Company filed Articles of Amendment (“Articles of Amendment”) with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation of Maryland (“SDAT”), amending certain provisions of the Articles Supplementary of the Series D Preferred Stock filed with SDAT on June 28, 2013 (the “Articles Supplementary”). The Articles of Amendment:

In addition, on July 22, 2013, Landmark Apartment Trust of America Holdings, LP, the Company’s operating partnership, adopted the Fifth Amendment to its Agreement of Limited Partnership, which made changes to conform to the Articles of Amendment described above.

3

The material terms of the Articles of Amendment and the Fifth Amendment to the Agreement of Limited Partnership are qualified in their entirety by the agreements attached as Exhibit 3.1 and 3.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference.

4

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

5

EXHIBIT INDEX

6