Transferring Rent for Section 8 Property

[Mallory Thompson]

I'm in the process of closing on a section 8 duplex. I've started the process of gathering the paperwork for the local housing authority to have rent payments redirected from the seller to me, but it takes time. We close on December 16th, which gives me four days to get paperwork in, just to have rent redirected to the following month, in January. The seller has already received December rent ($3,200), meaning we should be entitled to half of that. If we don't get all the documents filed within the four days following closing, we'll lose out on another month, bumping the total up to $4,800 (half of December and January).

Is there something that can be done during closing to ensure we receive the rent for the time that we have ownership of the property? I have a question out to my realtor now but am anxious over it since it's a good bit of money and we are responsible for collecting it from the seller instead of the housing authority.