Would you rent to someone with a housing voucher?

Question

I am in the process of renting out my property and screening tenants. So far the applicants that are coming in are unemployed but have housing vouchers that can cover 100% of the rent.

I am new to housing vouchers so curious what ppl think about this.

Appreciate any insight.

Walter Moneypenny · Answer

Check your local laws, you may be required to consider vouchers. Several cities in Arizona such as Phoenix and Tucson have passed ordinances that say that a landlord must consider a voucher. The voucher would take the place of the income requirement, for example our criteria is 3 times the rent as gross household income. If the voucher did not cover all of the rent then the applicant would have to have 3 times the income for the portion they are responsible for. The other requirements in the listing such as credit score, rental history, etc would remain unchanged.

The criteria has to be the same for all applicants, and not different for just one group. You need to follow all Fair Housing guidelines.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

1. Application screening is method of determining risk.

2. Verifying income is a method of determining whether they have the funds to pay rent.

3. Because the voucher is covering the rent payment, it confirms there is no risk regarding the payment of rent and you can check that box.

4. You still need to look at the other risk factors, determine what level of risk is present, whether you will accept that risk, and how you will mitigate it.

James Back · Answer

Like already stated, you probably need to "consider" all vouchers. That being said, make sure you still look into the people and the voucher. If it is section 8, i would make sure they at least have some income coming in to be able to afford to eat, clothe, and buy all the other necessities. During and after COVID I ran into people that had "Vouchers", but it had a 3 or 4 month expiration date. The last thing you want to do is get someone in there with vouchers that have a definite expiration date, you will see a lot of headache and turnover.

JD Martin · Answer

We don't accept Section 8. Most of the vouchers in my area don't cover the full amount of rent, so the tenant has to make up the difference themselves. Getting an eviction done when only the tenant's portion is missing takes some work. There's also regular inspections of both the living conditions and conditions of the home, and I've known some LLs in my area to fail for really stupid things (like a broken screen that the tenants must have broke), and if you fail no money until you pass. You really need to educate yourself on your own state's laws, as every state administers their own programs with federal money.

Would you rent to someone with a housing voucher?

Would you rent to someone with a housing voucher?

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