Lease option for a section 8 tenant

[Jeremy Harris]

I am in the chicago are suburbs and have a potenential tenant that has section 8. They are interested in a lease option (rent to own) on a single famIly home. From what I’m reading, it is difficult. Has anyone had any experience with this?

[Jeremy Harris]

@Ronald Starusnak While vetting section 8 tenants, I’ve learned not to put them all in the same basket. Of course their are tenants that, you would never want to work with, and that’s when you hear horror stories. What’s happening now is an incredible amount of reform with section 8. The government is assessing a lot of current vouchers and reducing them. This couple’s situation is, wife does not work, and the husband does. They have bad credit, but the husband has now worked an ok job for a solid amount of time. Their voucher was re assessed with his current income and was reduced in half and will probably be cut completely in the future. A lease option would give them the opportunity to lock in a property price, and give them 3 to 5 years to work on their credit. The voucher covers a big chunk of rent, and theIr is down payment assIstance. As far as down payment, I work with properties in the Midwest ranging from 70k to 100k. Lease option is 3 to 6k upfront. USUALLY CAN PAY WITH TAX REFUND AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAM HELPS WITH 1000 OF IT. WORST CASE IS I HAVE TO EVICT, FIX DAMAGES AND KEEP THE NON REFUNDABLE LEASE OPTION.