How we research.

Why methodology matters

Affordable housing finance is regulated, technical, and unforgiving. A misread of Section 42, an outdated AMI figure, or a missed PIH notice can lead to deal failures or recapture exposure. Our content has to be right, current, and traceable to primary sources. This page describes how we make that happen.

Our information stack

Tier 1: Primary sources

The federal statutes, regulations, agency guidance, and Treasury documents that govern affordable housing finance. We monitor these directly:

• Internal Revenue Code — Section 42 (LIHTC), Section 45D (NMTC), Section 47 (HTC), Sections 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2 (Opportunity Zones)
• U.S. Treasury — CDFI Fund notices, OZ regulations, IRS Revenue Procedures (e.g., Rev. Proc. 2025-32 for 2026 LIHTC per-capita)
• HUD CPD — HOME, HTF, CDBG notices, regulations under 24 CFR Parts 92, 93, 570
• HUD PIH — Public housing, RAD, Section 8 PBV, Housing Choice Vouchers (24 CFR Parts 982, 983)
• HUD Multifamily — PBRA, FHA mortgage insurance, multifamily housing notices
• FHFA — FHLB system regulation, AHP rules under 12 CFR Part 1291
• State HFAs — QAPs, allocation rounds, state-administered HOME/HTF
• Congressional acts and bills — e.g., OBBBA (P.L. 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025)

Tier 2: Industry data and analysis

Trusted secondary sources we use for market intelligence:

• Novogradac — LIHTC equity pricing data, regulatory analysis, projections (including the 1.22 million additional affordable rental homes estimate from OBBBA's LIHTC expansions over 2026–2035)
• NCSHA — National Council of State Housing Agencies survey data and policy advocacy
• NLIHC — National Low Income Housing Coalition gap analysis and ELI data
• NAHRO, CLPHA, NCDA — trade associations for housing authorities and community development
• Urban Institute, Joint Center for Housing Studies (Harvard), Furman Center (NYU) — academic and policy research

See the full Sources & Attribution page for our complete source catalog.

Editorial process

Step 1: Monitoring

We monitor federal regulatory feeds daily for changes affecting affordable housing finance. Critical channels include the Federal Register, IRS Internal Revenue Bulletins, HUD CPD and PIH notice releases, and FHFA actions. State-level monitoring covers QAP cycle announcements and state agency releases for the largest housing finance states.

Step 2: Initial drafting

New content is drafted with explicit statutory and regulatory citations from the start. When we describe a rule, we identify the underlying statute or regulation by section number. When we cite a figure (per-capita amount, small-state minimum, AMI level), we identify the source document (Revenue Procedure, HUD Income Limits release, etc.).

Step 3: Statutory verification

Before publication, every program page and article runs through what we call statutory verification: a structured pass that checks every cited section, subsection, regulation, and dollar figure against primary sources. We maintain a versioned reference workbook so we can trace which version of the law was current when each piece was published.

Step 4: Multi-perspective review

Substantial content is reviewed against multiple practitioner perspectives:

• Developer perspective — would a sponsor or syndicator find this technically accurate and operationally useful?
• Attorney perspective — does it stand up to legal scrutiny?
• Federal agency perspective — would HUD CPD, IRS, Treasury, CDFI Fund, or FHFA staff see anything they'd correct?
• CFO/financial perspective — do the economics described match how deals actually pencil?

Step 5: Publication and timestamping

Published content carries a "Last updated" date. Material updates (new OBBBA guidance, revised AMI tables, new IRS Revenue Procedures) are reflected on the relevant pages with the timestamp revised. We do not silently revise content; substantive corrections are noted under our Editorial Standards.

Step 6: Ongoing maintenance

Pages are reviewed on a rolling cycle. Tier 1 federal program pages (LIHTC, OZ, HOME, HTF, RAD, etc.) are reviewed quarterly minimum and immediately upon any material regulatory development.

How we handle uncertainty

When the law is unsettled, we say so. When IRS guidance is forthcoming but not yet issued, we identify the gap and what practitioners are doing in the interim. When industry practice diverges from a strict statutory reading, we flag both. We resist the temptation to give clean answers where the underlying regulatory environment is messy.

What we do not do

• We do not give legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Our content is educational. Practitioners should consult qualified counsel, their CPA, and other appropriate professionals for transaction-specific advice.
• We do not republish press releases as content. When we cover industry announcements, we add context, analysis, or implications drawn from our own monitoring — not a paraphrased PR text.
• We do not pay-for-coverage. No advertorial, no sponsored content, no industry payments that influence our editorial.
• We do not republish content from other publications. All articles, program guides, and glossary entries are original to The Housing Subsidy Brief, with cited sources where appropriate.

AI use in our work

We use AI tools (including Anthropic's Claude) for drafting assistance, research summarization, and consistency checking. AI does not substitute for human judgment on statutory accuracy or editorial direction. Every AI-assisted draft is reviewed by a human against primary sources before publication. AI-generated content alone does not get published.

Our Pro AI Q&A feature, when launched, is grounded in our verified content library and primary federal sources, with citations. We are upfront that AI-generated responses are not legal, tax, financial, or investment advice and should be verified against primary sources before any decision. See Disclaimer for full details.

Corrections and feedback

We make mistakes. When we do, we want to know. Email corrections to support@housingsubsidybrief.com. Verified corrections are reflected on the affected page with the "Last updated" date revised, and material corrections are noted publicly per our Editorial Standards.