Section 8 Tenants in NJ

[Daniel Monopoli]

Hello BP family!

I purchased a 2-family in September that I am going to house hack. I've spent the last several weeks renovating the rental unit and getting it up to speed. I am working with a realtor to get it rented and we listed the unit about a week ago. 

The number of inquiries are through the roof. Unfortunately, the majority of applicants aren't cutting it. There have been a ton of section 8 inquiries, and I'm not totally against it, but I like to totally educate myself on these things before making a move. I have a prospective tenant that is currently section 8 in Hudson County and the Housing Dept payments wouldn't kick in until Dec 1st, even though she wants to technically move in Nov 1st. She offered to pay me in full for that November month, and then December the assistance money will kick in, covering most of the rent. She would be responsible for just a small portion. 

Does anyone have experience with this - specifically in NJ? My main concerns are: 

1) Can I still charge the rent that I was going to charge for the unit? Or is it a predetermined amount that I will be told at some point during this process? 

2) Is she even allowed to pay me for November/move in at that time? 

Thanks, all!