Landlords required to accept section 8 in my county

[Pamela Mason]

Hello! I have rentals in Columbus, Ohio and I was researching the legal ramifications involving Section 8. It appears that there is a new law in that county that was passed that requires landlords to accept Section 8. The articles gave examples of properties that had accepted it in the past, but have decided to stop and make those tenants move out. My question is what about landlords with only a few rentals who have never had their homes approved for Section 8? There is a drawn out process of meeting, going to orientation, getting the home approved, fixing issues to their standards, etc. Can they force a landlord to go through that process against their will? I live out of state and it would be extremely difficult for me to go through all that, plus I don't want the headache of keeping up with their standards. I always get several people asking if I accept Section 8 and I have started to say that my unit has not been approved for Section 8. I am concerned about saying or doing something illegal. One article said landlords can go to jail if they do not comply.  I would be okay with accepting it if I had a potential tenant who passed all criteria, but again, being out of state would cause a hardship on me to go through the whole process.