Sec. 8 tenant income to rent ratio

[Arthur Banks]

In the Tenant Screening: Ultimate Guide it's recommended that the tenants income is at least 3X the rent. Those of you who follow that rule and rent to Sec. 8, how do you handle the income to rent ratio seeing as tho' their income is probably not very high considering they're on Sec. 8?

[Victor N.]

I also work with tenants on section 8. I developed a very good relationship with the case managers and the inspectors. This makes my life a little easier when it comes to dealing with the tenants. @Marcia Maynard provided some excellent info so I will pitch in with a few things to watch out for:

Knowing the section 8 rules! This will also help you manage your tenants better. For example, the housing authority does all the affordability calculations for the amount of rent the tenant can afford. Every time there is a change is the tenant's income up or down, their portion of the rent is adjusted accordingly. So basically, the tenant should always afford their portion of the rent.

Regarding repairs for example, if there are damages caused by the tenant, you should point those out to the inspector when he/she does the annual re-inspection. If the inspector agrees with you, the tenant will be required to take care of/pay for the repairs, which hopefully will motivate them to take better care of your property. But on the other hand, do you want them to make repairs themselves if that's what they decide to do? In other words, you might end up doing the repairs but in that case you should be able to bill the tenant.

Also, if the tenant does not pay their portion of the rent and you successfully evict them, they automatically lose their section 8 voucher. This is a big motivation factor to encourage them to pay. The case manager can be an amazing ally because they will send a letter to the tenant who is not following the rules. In addition, if a tenant does not repair damages that they caused as noted by the inspector, they can lose their section 8 voucher within weeks after the usual 30 days to perform repairs has passed.

Another issue to watch out for is unauthorized residents in the housing unit. The housing authority will give you an official list of the household members allowed to live in the apt/house. All of my section 8 tenants are women and sometimes they try to make their boyfriend part of the household ( boyfriend moves in).

Section 8 tenants are sometimes not easy to deal with. But knowing the rules can help you protect your investment and make it profitable. Good luck!