Has anyone rented to a section 8 tenant or been a section 8 renter?

[Anonymous]

We have a rental property and for the first time have interet from
Someone with a section 8 voucher. Anything I should be aware of? I generally like te credit score of the US govt, just wondering if the process is particularly slow/complicated? And any other tips? Like can I help the rentor by including utilities in rent or does that not matter either way?

[Anonymous]

I have one. What % of the rent is the voucher for? The most important thing to remember is that the tenant share of the rent is tied to their income in such a way that there isn't a large margin for error in the tenant's budget.

You sign a HAP contract that overrides certain provisions of your lease although hopefully you know this already (for example, late fees cannot be charged as "additional rent").

[Anonymous]

You cannot consider where their source of income comes from.

This is part of "not discriminating." You don't have to do anything different.

You still run a credit check and rental verification.

You can reject based on the credit, jus like a non section 8 tenant.

It is neither slow or not slow. It is a voucher.

[Anonymous]

Where is your property? I can give you some tips if it's in D.C., but I am not familiar with VA or MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cannot consider where their source of income comes from.

This is part of "not discriminating." You don't have to do anything different.

You still run a credit check and rental verification.

You can reject based on the credit, jus like a non section 8 tenant.

It is neither slow or not slow. It is a voucher.

That's pretty useless. OP, with Section 8 you have to get the unit inspected which can be slow depending on whether the local office is backed up. Also, IME, Section 8 won't make two rental payments which effectively means the tenant has to move in on the first of the month so if the inspection process lags you may lose a month or two.

Also, the voucher is nice because they do direct deposit.

[Anonymous]

Not every property is eligible for Section 8 vouchers -- we had to get an inspection from the Section 8 folks to certify that our property was OK for the Section 8 program. So if you haven't done that, check first to see if you can even accept a voucher.

[Anonymous]

I always wondered about Section 8.

Some properties in nice areas do not accept the vouchers, while it seems areas in less nicer areas do.

Is it because of the types of people who receive the vouchers?

Because in my mind as a landlord, it would be easier to have a Section 8 tenant because at least I know my rent would be paid effectively on time every month vs. someone else who was paying out of their own pocket.

[Anonymous]

Some properties in nice areas do not accept the vouchers, while it seems areas in less nicer areas do.

It's more like, or it should be, that some properties in nice areas cost more per month than a voucher can cover.

It is illegal to "not accept the vouchers" in DC, Montgomery and Howard counties, where discrimination based on source of income is illegal.

[Anonymous]

OP here - the property is in Charles County MD. It hasn't been approved yet, but I don't think passing inspection should be an issue. I could see scheduling inspection to be slow?

I just wanted to make sure there weren't any horror stories before proceeding. I'm assuming that the renter will have a tough time coming up with a 1 month security deposit ($2000 ish)??? The rent paid by renter is going to be minuscule so if they never paid it wouldn't bother us much.

I'll check references, credit, etc. as usual. Thanks for the help! I've read online about horror stories and about landlord who think it's the best thing ever and wanted to get a feel for what to expect.

[Anonymous]

Someone asked about this recently. I have rented after Section 8 renters and I always feel bad for the landlord.

The landlords have sustained major damage mostly from the renters really not knowing or understanding how to do routine maintenance or routine cleaning like gutters, replacing filters, carpet cleaning, etc. Also, late rent was always an issue and in both cases the tenant brought notes from their pastor or showed up with their pastor to provide "evidence" that they would be good tenants. After all if a pastor says they are good people they must be.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that if the tenant will be paying the utilities, their income will need to cover that because the voucher will not.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]I'm assuming that the renter will have a tough time coming up with a 1 month security deposit ($2000 ish)??? [/quote]

There may be restrictions in the amount, if any, of security you can charge.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]routine maintenance or routine cleaning like gutters, replacing filters, carpet cleaning, etc. [/quote]

I'd think most, if not all, of these should be covered by the landlord. Heck, some tenants expect landlords to change lightbulbs.

[Anonymous]

The one piece of leverage you do have is that if they don't pay their share of the rent or excessively damage the unit they can be terminated from the program. Since it's such a great benefit for them most people in the program will try really hard not to be terminated.

[Anonymous]

We rented section 8 about 12 years ago in Arlington. The upside was we had steady rent, never late, and the downside was the condo was disgusting when they left. I know this isn't indicative of section 8 renters, but it was our experience. Fixed up the place and sold it. From '98 - '05, section 8 paid the mortgage on the condo.