On November 8, 2017, HUD published the Section 8 Housing Assistance Program – Annual Adjustment Factors (AAFs), fiscal year 2018 in the Federal Register. These factors are used for adjusting or establishing Section 8 rents under various Section 8 programs. AAFs are distinct from, and do not apply to the same properties as, Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs). OCAFs are annual factors used to adjust rents for project-based Section 8 rental assistance contracts renewed under MAHRA. A Notice on the new OCAFs was published in November 2, 2017. The AAFs are effective on the anniversary of the assistance contract for the individual properties.
AAFs established by this Notice are used to adjust contract rents for units assisted under three categories of Section 8 programs:
Category 1: Section 8 New Construction, Substantial Rehab, and Moderate Rehab programs;
Category 2: Section 8 Loan Management (LM) and Property Disposition (PD) programs; and
Category 3: Section 8 Project-Based Certificate (PBC) Program.
AAFs are not used in the following cases:
- Renewal Rents: AAFs are not used to determine renewal rents after expiration of the original Section 8 HAP Contract;
- Budget Based Rents: AAFs are not used for budget-based rent adjustments. For projects receiving Section 8 subsidies under the LM program and for projects receiving Section 8 subsidies under the PD program, contract rents are adjusted, at HUD’s option, either by applying the AAFs or by budget-based adjustments. Budget-based adjustments are used for most Section 8/202 projects; and
- Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Technical details and requirements for using AAFs are described in HUD Notices H 2002-10 and PIH 97-57.
How to Find the AAF
AAF tables are posted on the HUD User Web Site at www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/aaf.html.