Section 8 Tenants

[Adam Pervez]

Hello,

I am curious to learn about people's experiences with section 8 tenants. I have a rental in Pennsylvania where I am allowed to reject a section 8 tenant but was curious to see what others' experiences were having them as tenants.

Thanks!

[Elise Bickel Tauber]

Section 8, 5-10 years ago was the way to go. Tenants were often long term tenants and treated the property like their own. It was a long wait to get on the list and even longer to find a good place so people didn't want to move unless they had to. Inspections back then were truly on safety inspections and they had reasonable increases yearly in rent (3-5% on average). About 5 years ago, section 8 started getting crazy (imo). If you wanted the top end of the rent spectrum, your place better be top end. I had inspectors tell me the walls weren't "white enough" and that the laminate countertop was "dingy and needed replaced". If I didn't make those updates they were going to reduce the rent by $400/month! We ended up shying away from section 8 since 2021 so i'm not sure if they went back to normal or not but the reinspections we have had on the ones already leased up as section 8 have gotten better. Not quite just safety standards but not trying to make our places the Taj Mahal either. 

As for the tenants, whatever you do, you have to do the same across the board or it can lead to discrimination suits. We have a standard lease process and for section 8, we give them full points for rental history (as long as they dont have evictions) and income. They still have to pass our criminal history and background check. But most section 8 tenants do get approved. 

Hope that helps!