Section 8 voucher in Georgia

[Jeff A.]

I have 5 doors in Georgia, type a or b. I've noticed this tenant turnover cycle of one of my SFH, every call asks about accepting housing vouchers. I not involved and not interested in learning about it or having to deal with our government to comply. Am I legal to not be involved. Is it OK to tell callers "I'm sorry I'm not affiliated with governmental housing programs??? Thank in advance for answers.

[Patti Robertson]

@Aundrea Newbern - Yes, the official term is "Housing Choice Voucher."  The tenant chooses your house and you screen and accept them as a potential tenant first.  The next step is you completing a package of paper (RFTA - Request For Tenancy Approval) that asks for data about the house.  This data is used to determine if your rent is "reasonable" compared to comparible homes rented outside of SEC 8, and "affordable" for the tenant, meaning their cost of rent and utilities will be under 30% of their income. Most Housing Authorities first determine if they can pay your requested rent and notify you if they can or if they can't.  If they can't, they will tell you what they will approve, and it is up to you if you accept or not.  This financial check takes 10 days in my market, in all 7 of our Housing Offices.  The next step is for the inspection to be scheduled. This generally  generally takes 10 days from teh day rent is approved/accepted in my market.  If we pass inspection first try, we can sign the lease and move the tenant in at that point. If we fail, we have to fix the issue and wait for anothe rinspeciton.  Most of our inspectors are pretty good about responding quickly to our second inspection request.  Most all our SEC 8 tenants are moved in within 30 days of us turning in the paperwork.

@Gail K. - Thankfully what you describe has not been my experience at all, and I work with 7 different Housing Authorities and currently have 100ish SEC 8 tenants.  When initial appointments are set we always have no more than a 2 hour window.  Usually it's shorter, and most of the inspectors are willing to call us 30 minutes before they are heading our way.  I'm sure this comes with the territory of knowing them well, because we see them so often.  In 6 out of our 7 cities, SEC 8 pays 100% of market value, and in one they pay 90%.  I just got $1350 approved for a 3 bedroom and $1600 approved for a 4 bedroom, and we are in a pretty average priced market.  I always submit rent comps to support my request that reflect the same style property, in as close to an age and square footage range as I can get, that are located in the same city within 5 miles of my property, and were rented within the last 6 months.  You can submit a rent increase request after the tenant has been there for a year, and our HAs do not limit the increases we can request, as long as it is "reasonible" and "affordable".  I had several increases get approved for more than $100 last year.   As far as getting tenants out, it is no different than any tenant.  If we take them to court and get a judgment, and then report it to SEC 8, their voucher is put on hold, and they cannot get the RFTA reissued to find a new place until they satisfy my judgment.  The ball is in my court if I want them to stay or go. If I actually evict them, they lose their voucher. My worst damaged unit ever was in a higher end - $2K/month - house rented by three young military officer pilots. They were gone alot and didn't pay close attention. We had a radiator heat pipe fail and it took the tenants months to notice the moisture accumulation.  When they finally called they said there was mold in the medicine cabinet that kept coming back.  They had been spraying the walls with mildew remover and wiping them down - for months.  We ended up with a $30K mold insurance claim.  This never would have happened with a SEC 8 tenant.  They are trained in home inspections and are quick to report problems, which I want to know about so I can protect my property.  I personally don't see participating in SEC 8 as me allowning the government to tell me how to run my business.  I have learned the nuances and have used the government program to my advantage to maximize rents, maximize length of lease, and minimize vacancy.