Renting Section 8 and to HUD..

[Brian King]

Has anyone ever rented section 8 or to HUD? I am wanting some info to what the qualifications are and if it is even worth it. It kind of seems like it would be a hassle.

[Ralph S.]

There are good and not so good things about Section 8. Some of my best, and some of my worst tenants were S8 tenants, and I've had more than a few kicked off the program.

Posititives: Most of the rent is never late. In my experience they tend to stay longer than other low income renters because so many LL's don't accept it, and their choices are limited. Because they get assistance and you can get them booted, there is a little more incentive for them to stay on good terms with the you.
Negatives that are not so negative: Inspections, but in reality their requirements are not unrealistic. Just watch out for torn/mising window screens and flaking paint that could spark a LBP inspection.

I've found that the case workers and inspectors are reasonable when working with landlords, and when a problem arises they tended to support me. Since S8 is administered by the local municipality, and good and bad housing authorities do exist, your experience may vary, but I found they tend to want to boot bad tenants, cause they have a long list of applicants, and bad tenants give the program a bad reputation.

As with any tenant, your screening process is the most important thing. Being on S8 doesn't mean they are good tenants, only that they qualify for the program.

There are a lot of good threads, links and other information here on BP about S8. Do some searches.