section 8 rates, and where to find them

[Michael H.]

Hey BP family,

ive been googling around and i cant find a good source on voucher rates.

Im in Houston,tx - Harris county.

there are plenty of resources to help renters sign up for a voucher but i cant find anything on resources that clearly show what a land lord would receive

[Jennifer Donley]

@Michael H., unfortunately, what Section 8 will pay isn't usually as simple as just finding the payment standard.

Typically, a Housing Authority will pay a "reasonable" rent for the unit (basically a comparable rent amount to what similar units of same size/amenities for market units in the area) up to the payment standard.

So I think of it like this - the "rent reasonableness" sets the first ceiling.  Then the payment standard sets the 2nd except that the tenant can make up the difference between your rent and the payment up to 10% of their income. (Basically Section 8 doesn't want the tenant paying more than 40% of their adjusted income to housing expenses).

And there's a whole bunch of other factors, like number of dependents, child care expenses, etc. that play into the formula.  

And each Housing Authority has some autonomy in how they set rents so it varies from one to the next somewhat.  Silly but true.

Quite honestly, I believe your best bet is to find a successful Section 8 landlord in your area who can give you an idea of rents.  Some Housing Authorities are very transparent in expected rents and others aren't, so you could also try calling the HA locally to see if they can give you a firm answer as well.