A paper presented at the February 2002 conference quot;Policies to Promote Affordable Housing,quot; cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy

Essential Function Bonds (or EFBs) are issued by housing authorities to finance the construction and substantial rehabilitation of affordable housing or other community facilities owned by state and local housing finance agencies. Although some state agencies issue EFBs as part of their efforts...