Section 8 income requirements

[Jason D.]

I have a new rental that will be in service in a couple weeks, and ready for renters. I am going to try my hand at accepting section 8 tenants, which will be a new experience for me. In my other rentals, my income requirement has always been 3x rent.

In Pinellas county, the section 8 tenant pays 30% of their income toward their housing, regardless of the rental, and the housing authority pays the remainder.

My question is, how would you suggest I modify my income requirement fo this scenario? I would, of course, not alter my credit or background requirements, but the income portion has me tripped up a bit.

[Jonathan Taylor Smith]

@Jason D., my requirement is "income of at least 3 times rent OR suitable voucher / third party guarantee". When the applicant has an S8 voucher, that effectively takes the place of the income requirement for me, as it is not uncommon for the Housing Authority (at least in my area) to adjust what they pay versus the tenant share throughout the tenancy as the family income picture changes for better or worse. If the person gets a raise / works more hours or better job the tenant share increases, but if they lose their job or suffer some other financial setback, it goes down and HA/S8 covers the difference (again, that is how it works in my area) - confirm this for your city. I've had tenants go from paying 3/4th of the rent at lease start down to nothing with S8 then paying 100%.

Since I know S8 will pay the entire rent if needed, I'm really not concerned with income (assuming they don't ever lose their voucher), as the HA determines affordability of the rental for the family before approving. I care far more about length and type of employment, as certain jobs and time on the job may show the person is able to conduct themselves in a manner that makes conflict with me less likely. I care about how they communicate by phone, email and in-person, as communication is key to good landlord / tenant outcome. I care how well they follow directions (I test this in many different ways). I'm also not really concerned about credit score, as most person's with vouchers will also have credit challenges. But if ever evicted it is an automatic denial, as is recent criminal activity.

J.T.