How do you raise section 8 rents?

[Jon Blackburn]

Hi folks,

I just purchased a 5 unit mfh, with rents well below market. One of the tenants just qualified for section 8 assistance, and was asking me if I could start accepting it.

I've been reading up on the rules, and I could practically double the rents and still be at HUD's fair market rents...but they talk about "rent reasonableness" and that rent can't be higher than for other units on the property. So with 5 tenants, all on staggered leases, how can I go about getting more from section 8?