Section 8 Housing: Where to start as a Landlord?

Question

I just purchased a property and want to be prepared for section 8 if we have interested tenants. Can anyone tell me the process as a landlord and what I need to do to be prepared?

Fernando Domingo · Answer

@Charles East Thanks for the tip @Patti Robertson That was super helpful. Thank you so much for the link and the detail. Much appreciated

Fernando Domingo · Answer

@ Matt Leber Thanks for the info Matt this really helps. It doesn't sound like it's as difficult as I anticipated it to be.

Matt Leber · Answer

@Fernando Domingo I’ll tell you what I do out in Central Florida with the caveat that your local office might have slightly different processes. I would call the section 8 office in your local area and ask if hey can send you the rent cap amounts by bedroom size and zip code. This will tell you the max rent you can list at according to bedrooms and micro area. My section 8 inspector told me they have some wiggle room up or down but that the rental amount chart from the sec 8 office is a good guideline where to price your rent. I would also ask them for the list of items that must be in working order to pass your section 8 inspection. Once you have the list, you can walk through the house and make sure the unit checks all the requirements. This will save you from failing an inspection over something small and having to waste more time on getting a re-inspect. Here’s the process:List your rental on the open market near the rent cap and specify that you are accepting sec 8. Once you have some sec 8 voucher holding tenants contact you, run your typical screening process and pick the tenant who best meets your criteria. Ask for their landlord packet and meet them in person to get the packet. Fill out the packet and return it to the sec 8 office that manages their voucher. The office will then schedule your inspection. Once you pass, the inspector will tell you how much the sec 8 program will pay you each month toward rent and how much the tenant will owe you each month. This split is based on their income level. On the day you pass inspection, sign your lease with the tenant and set up a move in date. Get all your deposits, pet fees, first months rent (tenants portion) before giving them the keys. Once they have moved in, the office will begin direct depositing their portion each month. Hope this helps!

Steve Morris · Answer

"Can anyone tell me the process as a landlord and what I need to do to be prepared?"I'm in Portland - You cannot treat a tenant any different based on the source of income which includes Sec 8 vouchers.So treat them like anyone else with credit screens and income qual. Sec 8 rents need to be competitive, otherwise, they'd never get into private housing.Sometimes they can be beneficial like with bad tenants. Make sure you find out who the tenant's caseworker is at the housing authority. If they get out of line, call the caseworker and they have the power to pull vouchers since there is already a lot of demand for them.

Patti Robertson · Answer

If you search BP for SEC 8 you will find hundreds of thousands of posts. The topic comes up ALOT. My poor fingers got tired of typing the same thing over and over, so I put my tips and tricks in a blog post. Here’s a link if you want to check it out. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Charles East · Answer

Call your local housing authority and ask for the landlord briefing packet.

Steve Morris · Answer

"I just purchased a property and want to be prepared for section 8 if we have interested tenants. Can anyone tell me the process as a landlord and what I need to do to be prepared"I can only speak to Oregon, but a Sec 8 voucher is just a check from the housing authority. However, what this means is that the case worker needs to OK the total rent with the tenant first. Unless it's a 100% voucher, you'll need to get the co-pay from the tenant.The case-worker may also make them move if something happens like they're in a 3 bed and all the kids move out.In OR, you cannot discriminate based on source of income (Sec 8 voucher), so you really can't say no because of this. However, they are subject to clearing your normal (i.e. treat all applicants the same) screening. I don't know Cali law, but in OR, the housing authorities won't cover damage > the refundable sec deposit.I usually don't have issues with Sec *, but they do need to clear screening and you need to enforce all the terms of the lease.