If the tenant is claiming to be living in a hotel, she may try to get you to reimburse for that cost unless section 8 has a new process to reimburse them for this... which sounds absurd but I'll let you deduce whether or not you're dealing with someone who is used to paying for things out of their own pocket. 

Essentially, you have to spend your own money and complete work on the property prior to reimbursing yourself out of the escrowed rehab budget.The draw process typically takes 5-7 days from initial request, to scheduling an inspection, and finally for the lender to wire those funds to you after your work is confirmed by the inspector.

But you could say something along the lines of this in your lease;"If the monthly gas bill exceeds $X or the water bill exceeds $Y, the tenant will reimburse the landlord for the difference as an additional charge."

In 2023 before I invested any funds, each and every time that I spoke with their representatives, I asked as my FIRST question if Norada Capital Management had ever missed any interest or principal payments, and was always told the same thing by their representatives, that Norada had a perfect payment/reimbursement history.

Additionally AB2533 should grant more flexibility courtesy of its language to limit the city "impact fees" - like that $8k number - so that a good chunk of those fees can be waived since the state is now supposed to reimburse the city for those fees in lieu of you paying them. 

@Jennifer Moscatello we have an addendum that says it was x amount full at occupancy and the difference will be reimbursed either way at vacancy plus a restart fee if they let it go empty.

Since I pay people daily for completed work I see no logic in making any upfront payments and any misc materials that are purchased I reimburse provided they have a paid receipt.

Good news is the FED reimburses you $750 ,so you actually make money,  Where do you go to request the reimbursement?

One thing to keep in mind is typically a lender will not be able to reimburse you for labor you complete yourself on a flip. 

Replacement Cost PoliciesCash Value: Reimburses the current, depreciated value of an item.