We manage almost 700 doors in Metro Detroit market, 92 are S8, so we are very familiar with the program.We've got some great S8 tenants, but also some not-so-great ones that abuse the program.PM us if you'd like to discuss the reality of using S8 effectively...

During this process ask them WHY they want the property (I've gotten answers such as "I just lost my job" "Im running away from an abusive Ex, etc.)3.)

If they continue to deny then its time to inspect the apartment. 90% of the time landlording is easy.

Should I deny the applicant, but state that they can reapply once they have resolved the discrepancy? 

What differentiates a category 1 and category 2 is that instead of recognizing the 2021-2022 mistakes, a sponsor denies them and instead increases their acquisition fees (3.75% last I saw) so that they can withdraw cash immediately from new bad investments in order to fund the need for capital calls in their old investments.

If you do not feel good about it, deny the application based on the son's statement that he is going to live there, or for other disqualification reasons.

For example in my area there are specific municipalities that have passed ordinances that prevent you from denying an applicant because they have a housing voucher (section 8).

I'm sure there are some slight technical differences, they won't tell you about until it is time to deny the claim.

Again they denied it.

There are several reasons but you don't want a tenant that just abuses the utilities because they don't care what it costs.