Section 8 Credit/ Background Check

[Brandon Breaux]

I typically use smart move for my background checks. I have a home that I am going to rent section 8. Is it typical to follow same application process on section 8 that I would use on non government assisted rentals?

Does smart move factor section 8 into their algorithm?

[Patti Robertson]

I do the same screening for my SEC 8 tenants as I do for any other. The only difference in my rental criteria is that I will accept one times rent in income instead of 3 times for SEC8. You do want to pull credit to find risks of garnishment. If a tenant has a garnishment, SEC 8 does not take that into consideration, so they still have to pay 30% of their gross income on housing. With a garnishment they will likely fall behind. This is opposed to if they lose their job completely, in which case SEC8 will step in and pay all the rent.