Potential S8 Tenant Income Verification

[Rick Bassett]

We haven't had a section 8 tenant before but we are getting many potential s8 tenants looking at an open property that we have and chasing down information is becoming a time consuming process. 

It's my understanding that we're allowed to screen everyone the same but I run into 2 problems with many of the s8 applicants:

1) They generally can't seem to tell me how much their portion of the rent/utilities will be (which leads to #2) 

2) They never seem to show any verifiable income or bank accounts, which is problematic as we have no gauge on their ability to cover their portion of the rent/utilities (unknown above)

Most simply tell us not to worry as they have a voucher but when we start talking to their case worker(s) it is usually a different story.

Does anyone have a different information form for S8 prospects (after they identify themselves as such) that requests things like: Name & phone # of case worker, # of bedrooms approved for, housing authority portion of rent, tenant portion of rent ? Is this allowed?

Rick

[Christopher Brainard]

@Rick Bassett

Sounds like you need to see the voucher itself - It will tell you the voucher size, case worker, the maximum rent allowance, utility allowance, tenant portion and S8 portion of the rent. As far as #2 goes, that information needs to come from the applicant. If you can't verify their income and rental history, I would not approve them (just as I would not approve any subsidized tenant who can't provide income or rental history.

-Christopher