Opting In, Opting Out: A Decade Later updates the 2006 report Multifamily Properties: Opting In, Opting Out and Remaining Affordable for the period 2005 to 2014. It finds that more owners made active decisions to opt in to Section 8 assistance in the latter period, while HUD’s older subsidized mortgage programs were largely being phased out. Factors such as for-profit ownership and low rent-to-FMR ratios continued to be associated with higher risk of loss of affordability, but these factors were less influential from 2005 to 2014 than in the original study. The article also explores the use of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and HUD refinancing to preserve affordability in Section 8 developments. It finds that these preservation tools are associated with extended affordability for thousands of HUD-assisted properties. However, additional preservation initiatives and improved targeting may be needed to preserve other HUD-assisted properties, particularly smaller developments in strong real estate markets. The research was conducted by the University of Florida, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, and the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation and published in Cityscape.
