Well the author and you have misinterpreted what HUD's new guidelines are.

Landlords can and do get in trouble for that sort of thing.If the homeowner really wanted to pursue this, this first step would be determining if there's a statute that authorizes some kind of treble damages or attorney fees.

A credit data aggregator does sell this data to authorized entities under a permissible use agreement.

John, sure enough, once I found a lawyer she brought all the other players to the table (including the surveyor, Dave).Virgilio, I did a lot of reading to and was happy to see that most of the prominent real estate-centric authors use similar math for valuing deals.

@Nick Brubaker, I downloaded an application straight from my city's housing authority and it specifically asks how long the tenant expects to live there, so I think (at least in NY) it must be a legally allowed question.

Check with the authority having jurisdiction (Fire Dept/inspections) for what edition of the life safety code, and fire code they go by.

As far as "landlord friendly", a lot of things can drive that perception - how restrictive legislation is, what your obligations are for holding and returning security deposits, oversight by local housing authorities, etc.

Can the two of you seek a higher authority on the issue?

This fee shallbe considered added rent.I copied and pasted from Rochester, NY Housing Authority Free lease :) Last night I Read the legal decision in NYS passed this past June and late fees cannot be over a certain percentage (6%) of the rent. 

This should be spelled out in the Housing Authority Payment (HAP) contract.