Housing Voucher Question in MA

[Patrick Coffey]

Hey all, 

Long time reader, first time poster. I have somewhat of a strange situation. I bought my 4-plex two years ago and when I did I inherited a tenant that was on a housing voucher, but not section 8 they say. Every month I would get a portion of the rent paid through the housing authority and they would pay the rest. They then applied for a change of income and stated they lost their job so now the housing authority pays 100% of the rent. My question is really 2 parts...

Since I inherited them I haven't increased the rent at all because I wasn't sure how it worked, and I still kind of don't. The housing authority that I get paid from is in a different county than mine (Worcestor county when they rent in Essex). Will that housing authority only pay the maximum fair market rent for their county, or would it be based off of my town? Because there is a difference of around $600 between those two places. And if I sent them an increase to rent form, would that mean that the tenant would be responsible for the other $600 or since the housing authority pays 100% then they would just start paying 100% of the new rent? 

Has anyone been in a situation like this before? I'd rather not lose the tenant if possible, because he's a decent guy and it's guaranteed 100% every month, but I also don't want to be leaving thousands of dollars on the table every year. 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and especially if you're in MA as I believe this is a state program as opposed to Section 8 which is federal. 

Thank you all for your feedback.

-Pat

[Jesse Snell]

@Patrick Coffey

Pat, I don’t own section 8 in Mass however I do get applications for vouchers that are offering less than my rent price so they don’t work out.

I’ve owned section 8 in Rhode Island before and there is a process to get the housing authority to up their voucher. That said there must be one for Massachusetts. I would just call the housing authority and inquire about it. They just made me provide them with a justification memo for the increased rent. Good luck