The 4-Bedroom FMR is computed from a 2000 Census Base 4-Bedroom Rent and updated using the same update factors derived for the 2-Bedroom FMR. The 4-Bedroom FMR may be separately rebenchmarked from the 2-Bedroom FMR by a special RDD of 4-Bedroom rental units.
The actual 2000 Census 4-Bedroom Base Rent and Revised Final 2005 4-Bedroom FMR for Fulton County, PA are: $583 and $662. All FMRs are 40th percentile rents. The update factors used to derive the Revised Final 2005 4-Bedroom FMR are summarized in the table below. The sources of the update factors are the same as the sources for the 2-Bedroom FMR update factors.
| 4-Bedroom FMR Update Process for Fulton County, PA |
||
|---|---|---|
| Data Year | Amount | Change from Previous* |
| 2000 Census Base | $583 | - |
| 2001 | $600 | 3.0% |
| 2002 | $622 | 3.6% |
| 2003 | $619 | -0.5% |
| 2004 | $642 | 3.7% |
| FY 2005 Final | $662 | 3.0% |
| FY 2005 Revised Final | $662 | No Change |
The remainder of this page demonstrates how the 2000 Census 4-Bedroom Base Rent is computed.
FMR estimates are calculated for 2-bedroom units, the most common size of rental units, and therefore the most reliable to survey and analyze. After each decennial Census, rent relationships between 2-bedroom units and other unit sizes are calculated and used to set FMRs for other units. This is done because it is much easier to update 2-bedroom estimates and to use pre-established cost relationships with other bedroom sizes than it is to develop independent FMR estimates for each bedroom size.
Adjustments are made to the Census results for areas with local bedroom-size intervals above or below what are considered to be reasonable ranges or where sample sizes are inadequate to accurately measure bedroom rent differentials. Experience has shown that highly unusual bedroom ratios typically reflect inadequate sample sizes or peculiar local circumstances that HUD would not want to utilize in setting FMRs (e.g., luxury efficiency apartments in New York City that rent for more than typical one-bedroom units). Bedroom interval ranges were established based on an analysis of the range of such intervals for all areas with large enough samples to permit accurate bedroom ratio determinations. The final range for 4-bedroom units is between 1.14 and 1.63 of the 2-bedroom unit FMR. In Fulton County, PA, the 4-bedroom unit base FMR is restricted to be between $462 and $660 before application of the large unit adjustment described below.
The rents for three-bedroom and larger units continue to reflect HUD?s policy to set higher rents for these units than would result from using normal market rents. This adjustment is intended to increase the likelihood that the largest families, who have the most difficulty in leasing units, will be successful in finding eligible program units. The adjustment adds bonuses of 8.7 percent to the unadjusted three-bedroom FMR estimates and adds 7.7 percent to the unadjusted four-bedroom FMR estimates.
Bedroom rents for a given FMR area are further adjusted if the differentials between bedroom-size FMRs were inconsistent with normally observed patterns.
Fulton County, PA has an insufficient 2000 Census sample to compute its own recent-mover FMR. HUD requires a sample of at least 200 recent movers, but Fulton County, PA has only 135 units in the protected data sample. Therefore, Fulton County, PA is assigned the 2000 Census Base Rentfor the combination of counties listed below, even though some members of the group may have a sufficient sample size for their own FMR. Other FMR areas that use the same county group FMR are indicated by "*"
Members of the county group: Bedford County, PA; Fulton County, PA*; Huntingdon County, PA.
In computing 2000 Census RentBedroom Rents, HUD actually uses data on rent distributions
that are prohibited from public release under Title XIII to protect the
confidentiality of respondents. The distributions used in this demonstration
are rounded versions of the actual, protected data.
The rounding scheme is as follows:
0, count = 0
1 to 7, count = 4
all other counts are rounded to the nearest 5 (e.g., 10, 15, 20, 25, etc.)
CALCULATIONS USING THE ROUNDED DATA MAY NOT PRODUCE THE SAME RESULT AS CALCULATIONS
USING THE PROTECTED DATA. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HUD'S ACTUAL RESULTS AND THOSE
DEMONSTRATED HERE IS INVERSELY RELATED TO THE SIZE OF THE FMR AREA. THAT IS,
THE LARGER THE AREA, THE CLOSER THE CALCULATION BASED ON THE
ROUNDED DATA IS LIKELY TO BE TO THE CENSUS BASE FMR COMPUTED FROM THE PROTECTED DATA.
HUD uses rents for recent movers in standard quality units to set the Census 2000 Base Rent.
"Standard Quality" units and rents are determined by limiting the full Census sample by including only responses
meeting the following criteria:
a. Occupied rental units paying cash rent
b. Specified renter ? on 10 acres or less
c. with full plumbing
d. with full kitchen
e. built before 1999
f. meals not included in rent
"Recent Mover" rents are determined by further limiting the "Standard Quality" sample with the following
additional criterion:
g. moved in within the last two years
The 2000 Census did not include a question that could be used to filter public or assisted housing from the rental distributions, however HUD is required to ensure that FMRs exclude non-market rental housing in their computation. Therefore, HUD excludes all units falling below a specified rent level determined from public housing rents in HUD's program databases as likely to be either assisted housing or otherwise at a below-market rent (perhaps due to quality problems not otherwise captured by the Census questions). The "public housing" rent cut-off for 4-bedroom units in Fulton County, PA is $346.
The following table and calculations demonstrate how the 40th percentile Census 2000 4-Bedroom Base Rent is determined for Fulton County, PA using the public distribution of recent mover rents for 4-bedroom units in the county group specified above.
| Portion of Recent Mover Rent Distribution | Gross Rent Dollar Range | Number of Units | Percent of Eligible Distribution | Cumulative Percent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Units below interval containing public housing rent level of $346 |
$1 to $324 | 0 | Not in Distribution | Not in Distribution |
| Units in interval containing public houising rent level of $346 |
$325 to $345 | 0.00 | Not in Distribution | Not in Distribution |
| $346 to $349 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Units below interval containing 40th percentile recent mover rent of $500 |
$350 to $499 | 36 | 40.0% | 40.0% |
| Units in interval containing 40th percentile recent mover rent of $500 |
$500 to $524 | 10 | 11.1% | 51.1% |
| Units above interval containing 40th percentile recent mover rent of $500 |
$525 or more | 54 | 60.0% | 111.1% |
| Total units Above Public Housing Rent in Recent Mover Rent Distribution | 90.00 |
There were no recent mover 4-bedroom units in the rent interval containing the Public Housing Rent level of $346.
The 40th percentile recent mover rent for Fulton County, PA is set at the rent interval dividing line amount of $500 because exactly 40 percent of units are in rent intervals below this amount.
Because the 4-Bedroom unadjusted 2000 Census Base Rentis set at the county group level, the standard quality rent for Fulton County, PA is not evaluated. Thus, the unadjusted 2000 Census base rent for Fulton County, PA is set at the county group recent mover rent of $500.
The unadjusted 2000 Census 4-Bedroom Base Rent of $500 is inside of the reasonable range of $462 to $660 and is therefore not adjusted for reasonableness.
To reflect HUD?s policy to set higher rents for 4-bedroom units than would result from using normal market rents, the results obtained above are adjusted upward by 7.7 percent to $539 to increase the likelihood that the largest families, who have the most difficulty in leasing units, will be successful in finding eligible program units.
The difference between the actual 2000 Census 4-Bedroom Base Rentof $583 and the demonstration 2000 Census 4-Bedroom Base Rent of $539 computed here is due to the effects of rounding on the public distribution as described above.
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