Number: RL31182
Title: Assisted Housing: Section 8 Mark-to-Market Restructuring
Authors: Susan Vanhorenbeck, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: When the Section 8 assisted housing program began in 1974, it provided project-based rental subsidies to encourage developers to build affordable housing for low-income residents. Under the program, tenants paid a fixed percentage of their income for rent, and the balance was paid by the federal government directly to the project owner. Many project rents were set higher than market rates, to encourage owners to participate. Moreover, throughout the 20 years of these original contracts, many of the rents were adjusted, to compensate for increased property costs. To reduce the cost to the federal government of renewing these contracts, a mortgage and rent restructuring program for certain Section 8 projects  commonly referred to as mark-to-market  was enacted in 1997. This program was scheduled to expire at the end of FY2001, but it was amended and reauthorized through FY2006 in Title VI of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for FY2002 (P.L. 107-116) and signed into law by the President on January 10, 2002.
Pages: 8
Date: June 13, 2002