Landlords: What You Need to Do Differently to Rent to a Section 8 Tenant

As a landlord, you might be wondering what you have to do differently if you rent to a Section 8 tenant receiving rent assistance.

Here is a summary of the major differences:

Property Application: You must apply to the city’s Public Housing Authority (PHA) to have your property begin the eligibility process.

Inspection: In addition to a city inspection for building code, there is a special inspection called Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspection. This is performed (a) prior to tenant move-in, (b) annually thereafter, and (c) randomly. This is to ensure that the housing assisted by the program is decent, safe, and sanitary.

Tenant Application: The program requires an application only if you require everyone to complete one.

Rent Payer: Landlords of tenants receiving Section 8 housing may receive part of the rent payment from the tenant. The remainder of the approved rent amount (specified within the lease) will be covered by the Section 8 program.

Rent Level: Landlords of properties can charge anything they want that the tenant is willing to pay. For Section 8 tenants, however, the program places a limit of “rent reasonableness” based upon (a) the number of bedrooms and (b) the utilities included (or not) within that rent.

Property Damage: Either way, the tenant is responsible to for damage beyond the normal wear and tear. So there really is not any difference. Section 8 tenants, however, may not have anything to lose if you sue them for those damages, but they can lose their rent assistance.