Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a recently enacted statute dubbed the “expiring use” bill. This new law will have the effect of preserving as affordable, thousands of units of housing in Massachusetts intended to be used by low-income residents. The Patrick Administration went further by creating a $150 million preservation loan fund which pools public and private funds to help secure rental developments that are about to lose their expiring use restrictions. The new law appears to provide a framework, and a procedure that can help sellers receive a market rate value for their publicly subsidized affordable housing, which was clearly a stumbling block to prior affordable housing preservation efforts.