Section 8 laws? ......

[Amanda Thompson]

I have an applicant asking if we accept Section 8? I have never dealt with it. Pros? Cons? Do I legally have to accept it? They want to apply to our newly built , high quality rentals...

[Brian Garlington]

Nobody can MAKE you rent to a Section 8 Applicant. If someone asks if you take Section 8 you should handle as follows......

(If your property has not been inspected by Section 8 yet)

We are  happy to show you the property, you should know that the property has not been Section 8 approved by an inspector nor have we ever made arrangements for this. As an FYI the deposit amount is $$$$, we are not flexible on that at all and we would conduct the same background checks for any Section 8 applicant as we would for a non Section 8 tenant.   SIDE NOTE: If they say they still want to see the property....arrange a time to show it to them. If they like the property then they will be the one who needs to contact the Section 8 office locally and help arrange a time for the inspection to take place at a time that is convenient for you, the inspector and the prospective tenant. There is a 99.9% chance that when the inspector comes to the property he or she will find something about your rental that they will say you need to correct before it will be eligible to be rented out to a Section 8 tenant. If you choose not to spend the money to correct it then your rental will not be Section 8 approved and that prospective tenant will not be able to rent your property. Also, in the future when people call and ask if you take Section 8 you will then be able to truthfully say, "We've already had a Section 8 inspector out here and it was determined by the inspector that the property does not meet the requirements to have a Section 8 renter here."  You will not need to say anything more than that.

I know that's a lot of information and with that being said, let me say this.......

I LOVE having Section 8 tenants. All of my portfolio here in the Bay Area is nothing but Section 8, and most of my portfolio in Ohio has Section 8 tenants. I will unequivocably say that I have actually fired two separate PMs in Ohio specifically because they would not rent out my units to Section 8. To me the advantages of rentong out to Section 8 tenants far outweigh renting out to a cash tenant.

Hope this helps.