Rental choice in Dc - Section 8 or regular tenant

[Anonymous]

What about the rental application fee? Do the voucher applicant has to come up with that? A standard background check costs about $50-60.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's really Hillcrest, you can't rent it for that price to Section 8 unless all utilities are included: https://www.dchousing.org/vue/customer/rent.aspx says it's $1423 for a 1br with utilities and $1226 without. So if you want the guarantee of the Section 8 income, you'll have to cut the price.

I had looked at that site and couldn't figure out what those numbers meant. Are those fixed rates, or maximums? For example, I have a basement unit on Cap Hill that rents for $1700. If I put it on the market, I might get a little more, but not much more. But the site lists $2467 for a one bedroom on Cap Hill without utilities, which is significantly above market for a basement unit. Seems like when a tenant moves out, we'd do very well by switching to Section 8. Am I missing anything? If so, why aren't more people renting through Section 8?

Yes, I think you are under renting in that area. Advertise for the section 8 rent and make sure to get your unit inspected for HCVP along with a business license and you are good to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, don't you request landlord references and confirm employment when you review tenant applications? That would tell me a lot about which tenant to rent to. I also check online court records. Once I found someone had lied about not ever having been evicted. And someone else who had been evicted under their (former) married name.

Op here. This happened with me in Fredericksburg, VA TH property. It was a family, married couple and kids. They would have got the rent covered just by the husband's family but the wife applied as well. I have found a few issues - two eviction proceedings for which she lied. In addition, she told me about her job but I could see unemployment insurance on her record. That is fine too but I asked for her boss's reference or pay stubs but she didn't provide me any. Also, looked like she was cashing the check from one of the places she was employed for part-time.

I don't have any problem with people who would have issues with their application but they have to be honest about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's really Hillcrest, you can't rent it for that price to Section 8 unless all utilities are included: https://www.dchousing.org/vue/customer/rent.aspx says it's $1423 for a 1br with utilities and $1226 without. So if you want the guarantee of the Section 8 income, you'll have to cut the price.

I had looked at that site and couldn't figure out what those numbers meant. Are those fixed rates, or maximums? For example, I have a basement unit on Cap Hill that rents for $1700. If I put it on the market, I might get a little more, but not much more. But the site lists $2467 for a one bedroom on Cap Hill without utilities, which is significantly above market for a basement unit. Seems like when a tenant moves out, we'd do very well by switching to Section 8. Am I missing anything? If so, why aren't more people renting through Section 8?

Those are the approved rents. Contrary to a PP, you can't make the rent on the lease that amount and then charge the tenant extra through a side agreement, or charge more than the payment standard knowing that DCHA's portion would be below the standard (because the tenant could recertify and have their portion go down and DCHA's go up).

DCHA allows higher-rent neighborhoods to charge more. So a 1-br in Capitol Hill could be $2467. But as to why more people aren't renting to people with vouchers
* they don't understand the program and the rents they can get
* it's more paperwork and an extra inspection
* they are concerned that people with vouchers will cause more trouble than a market-rate renter (some will, some won't)
* people with vouchers aren't applying for their units

To this last one, not everyone wants to live in Capitol Hill. Not everyone wants a basement unit (many people with vouchers have disabilities and might not be able to do steps, for example). The Section 8 waitlist closed in 2013 so most people, especially those with 1-bedroom vouchers, have been on the program a long time and might be settled in their units or their neighborhoods. There just aren't that many people with Section 8 or Local Rent Subsidy vouchers: about 17,000 households, of which only a fraction are 1-bedroom vouchers. It's a pretty small share of the population and rental market.

I thought there are more voucher holders than good units in the DC area. My understanding is that it is very easy to rent units to Section 8 in DC because lots of voucher holders don't get a decent place. Also, tons of people are also transferring in DC. Does the city government has a set budget for the vouchers or do they change it depending on the demand?

[Anonymous]

Dc controls its landlord in favor of section 8 and always increase the rent at par with the. market rent. last year has shaken up DC's rental market though.

[Anonymous]

Yes, that's true. How long are the evictions taking in case someone has to kick a non-paying tenant out?

[Anonymous]

Eviction moratorium is in place till 30th June. I don't think it is getting extended from here.