Section 8 Landlord FAQ

A tenant with a Section 8 voucher wants to rent my house or apartment. What do I do?

How does the payment process work?

What about raising the rent? Are there limits?

What about evicting tenants who have Section 8? Is that hard?

I have a house or apartment for rent and I want to advertise to Section 8 voucher holders. What can I do?

A tenant with a Section 8 voucher wants to rent my house or apartment. What do I do?

The tenant should provide you with a "Request for Lease Approval", or what we commonly call a "Green Sheet" (they are printed on green paper). The "Green Sheet" is necessary because it will tell us everything we need to know about the unit so we can determine the tenant's eligibility for the unit.

• The tenant will give you a "Green Sheet" to fill out. Once completed, you give it back to the tenant who must then return it to our office.

• We will review the information provided on the "Green Sheet" and determine if the tenant is eligible for the unit, and if the unit is eligible for our program.

• If all criteria for eligibility are met, our office will contact you to schedule an inspection of the unit.

• Once the unit passes inspection, the tenant can move in. This of course could be dependent upon the Tenant's previous residence and any move notice given. You and the tenant need to sign a one-year lease. Then you need to sign a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract with us. These documents are necessary before any payments can be processed.

Once these steps are complete, payments begin. Payments are generated at the beginning and approximate mid-point of each month. Please keep in mind that we cannot start a new lease with an existing tenant until the previous lease has ended. Also, we cannot start assistance until the unit has passed inspection and the tenant has keys to the unit.


How does the payment process work?

With Section 8, the housing authority is responsible for a portion (or sometimes all) of the unit's rent. We make payments directly to the landlord. Landlord payments are generally made on the first day of each month.

What about raising the rent? Are there limits?

As long as we can determine that the rent is comparable to other units in the surrounding market, there is no limit to the amount you can raise the rent. When a family first moves into a unit there is a limit to how much rent they will qualify for. That limit, however, is based on the particular family's level of assistance and not on the house or apartment. Again, this limit only applies when a family first moves in.

Since we require a one-year lease for the first year of tenancy, the rent cannot be raised during that time. A major difference between raising the rent in a Section 8 tenancy and any other tenancy is that we require a 60-day written notice to the tenant and a copy given to us (rather than the common 30-days). This allows us time to process the increase and determine how it will affect our payments and the tenant's payments.

What about evicting tenants who have Section 8? Is that hard?

All Section 8 tenants must have a one-year lease when they first move into a unit. You can still evict a tenant during the first year, but during that time it must be for cause, which is explained in the lease and contract paperwork that you sign with us. After the first year, tenancies typically become month-to-month, with the option of a 30-day termination. Your rights are the same as they would be for any private market tenant.

We do not get involved in the eviction process. Our only request is that you send us a copy of any eviction notice that you give.


I have a house or apartment for rent and I want to advertise to Section 8 voucher holders. What can I do?

Add your unit to our list of units that accept section 8. You can do this by downloading our Units Available Form and mailing it back to us, by coming into our office, or even by just calling our office and telling the receptionist you are a landlord with a unit to advertise.