for landlords - renting to section 8 tenants

[Anonymous]

We have a rental property and have never had anyone with housing vouchers inquire about it in years past. This year, we've had two interested parties who are on housing vouchers. I frankly don't care about where the $ comes from (plus - that would be descrimination). I'm more interested in is how long the process to get approved by the housing authority? Anything I should know about the process? Our property is in decent shape (but not fancy), so we should pass the inspection ok. The rental is in VA if that matters.

[Anonymous]

I only have a partial answer for you. I would call the section 8 office and find out what their rental cap is and whether it includes utilities.

I once had a section 8 voucher holder inquire about my property. I was enthusiastic about the idea of renting it to them, and would have been willing to actually bring down the rent a little- but when I called I found out that I would have had to bring the rent down by about $150 a month, that was more than I was willing to do. I had the impression that they could inspect very quickly, but I didn't get that far. I think they capped 2 bdrm apts in Arlington at something like $1600 including utilities-- but this was a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

That's nice of you OP but...

I am a renter and in two units I have rented over the years each time the owner who was well meaning took a Section 8 voucher their home maintained heavy damage. In each case, the renters brought a letter for a pastor to encourage the owners to rent to the renter.

It's not that I think Section 8 renters are bad people, it's just their standards are different. They aren't going to have the money to fix up a home and certainly don't understand the real cost of repairs and replacement and why that needs to be done in order to maintain the house value.

[Anonymous]

Renting to section 8 can be very risky. I've heard many many horror stories. Be very selective about who you choose because many are known to trash folks homes and in general a lot of section 8 types can really bring down a neighborhood just because they often have a different mentality.

I own a rental property as well and attenteded a section 8 info class for landlords. The process isn't that simple either. And then when we met with potential section 8 tenants, I was like hell no so we ended up going with a non-section tenant.

[Anonymous]

Did section 8 for a a house in woodbridge...it was great because the majority of the rent comes from the County (Not Federal or State). HUD Gives the county money to distribute.

Tenant was generally good. She had a small co pay which I had to chase down but it was nice having an ACH for 90 percent of the money.

House was in ok shape when she moved out. I honestly think any tenant would have had it in the same shape as her as there was a lot of wear and tear on the house from tenant turnover not her negligence. Just make a judgment. Do they have pets? Do they have young kids? To discriminate on whether or not they have kids is illegal but occurs all the time. See how their kids behave when you interview as an example.

[Anonymous]

You don't have to follow discrimination laws if you have under 4 units.

[Anonymous]

I rented to a Sec 8 once, would never do it again. Not the reason why I would not do it again, but it was a bit of a hassle to get the $ part set up and if the tenant changes jobs or circumstances, then Sec 8 would redo the rent distribution as to what the tenant has to pay and there was always a delay in getting the rent. I had to make many trips to the sec 8 office, who wants to make sure the paperwork was done to get my rent $. They also did a pretty extensive inspection.

[Anonymous]

PP Didn't really word that right. Meant to say that the office I had to go to way out of the way and I had to go several times.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I have a Section 8 tenant and it's worked out fairly well so far. However, currently they pay 100% of the rent. The thing you have to be careful about is when you have a split in the rental share between the housing authority and the tenant. The formula they use doesn't leave the tenants much wiggle room if the tenant makes a poor financial decision or has an unexpected expense.

The one advantage you have as a landlord is the leverage that if they don't pay or trash the place their section 8 benefits can be terminated and most people on section 8 will try to avoid that.

[Anonymous]

There are many good tenants on the Section 8 program, but there will be some who will not respect your property/pay their rent (just like with any tenant). There is nothing materially different between a section 8 tenant and a non-section 8 tenant.

The unit does have to pass an inspection at initial lease and at least annually afterwards; these can be somewhat strict, especially if you have an older unit. Also, the maximum rents are set by the housing authority, to some extent, and can lag in hot rental markets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many good tenants on the Section 8 program, but there will be some who will not respect your property/pay their rent (just like with any tenant). There is nothing materially different between a section 8 tenant and a non-section 8 tenant.

The unit does have to pass an inspection at initial lease and at least annually afterwards; these can be somewhat strict, especially if you have an older unit. Also, the maximum rents are set by the housing authority, to some extent, and can lag in hot rental markets.

One more thing- the time to process a request for tenancy will vary by area, since there are separate PHAs for different communities. So, I would call the PHA and ask- you'll get a more reliable answer than on this forum.

[Anonymous]

omg on those videos!!!! They don't give me faith in humanity!!! To think that human beings could trash a place like that that the public is paying for!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Section 8 tenant and it's worked out fairly well so far. However, currently they pay 100% of the rent. The thing you have to be careful about is when you have a split in the rental share between the housing authority and the tenant. The formula they use doesn't leave the tenants much wiggle room if the tenant makes a poor financial decision or has an unexpected expense.

The one advantage you have as a landlord is the leverage that if they don't pay or trash the place their section 8 benefits can be terminated and most people on section 8 will try to avoid that.

Can you clarify this? We have a section 8 renter next door who has completely trashed the place. Landlord wants her out but says he can't because rent is up to date because section 8 is paying it. It is so badly trashed I can't even begin to describe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Section 8 tenant and it's worked out fairly well so far. However, currently they pay 100% of the rent. The thing you have to be careful about is when you have a split in the rental share between the housing authority and the tenant. The formula they use doesn't leave the tenants much wiggle room if the tenant makes a poor financial decision or has an unexpected expense.

The one advantage you have as a landlord is the leverage that if they don't pay or trash the place their section 8 benefits can be terminated and most people on section 8 will try to avoid that.

Can you clarify this? We have a section 8 renter next door who has completely trashed the place. Landlord wants her out but says he can't because rent is up to date because section 8 is paying it. It is so badly trashed I can't even begin to describe it.

The landlord is probably lying to you about wanting her out and is just happy the rent is being paid. If he really wanted her out he would call her case worker and report the issues and they would come out and perform a home inspection. If tenant isn't abiding by the terms of the program they can terminate her assistance and then she won't be current with her rent and he can evict her. For obvious reasons he probably doesn't want to go this route.