Experience with rental subsidy programs in Miami

[Ivonne Pinedo]

I am looking for experiences with rental subsidy programs in Miami.

Was listing your property with a housing authority your first thought?

Did you ever lease to a participant and later decided not to? Why?

What would make a landlord reconsider participating in these programs again?

For the landlords participating in section 8. We can dispute the vouchers if they are too low. However, we have to submit evidence for the voucher increase to happen. Change is possible.

Miami needs more landlords willing to work with rental subsidy programs, and I need supporting data to show landlords experiences with the system and tenants. In essence, what do landlords want to list their properties to voucher participants?

[Jason Brown]

Hi Ivonne,

I'll give this a go. 

As a landlord here in Miami the problem is not so much the Section 8 process or any other housing authority. 

The issue I find is that when I go to list my units, which are clean and moderately upgraded apartments in Little Havana and Allapattah I literally have 70 applicants in 24hrs via facebook marketplace or through the apartment rental platform my property management software interfaces with (like Apartments.com etc).

So when I have 70 people lining up with first, last and deposit with no other middleman or agency impeding the process or requiring inspections or causing delays or requesting additional paperwork be filled out where is my incentive to go the section 8 route?

Again nothing against the program but I believe there should be an actual INCENTIVE above these other applicants in order to get consideration.

I can have a background and employment checked tenant in place in 2 business days start to finish so I need the section 8 process to be easier, faster and more profitable than that.

They like to toute the whole "guaranteed" rent collection mantra but we all know that any good landlord with buttoned up processes who is worth is salt is not scared of NOT collecting rent.