Do I have to accept Section 8 housing?

[concerned1977]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? VA

I have a hypothetical question (it hasn't come up yet - just curious about my rights in case it does).

I have a house that I'm putting up for rent, but if it ever came up I don't think I would want to deal with the hassles involved with section 8 housing (i.e. having to wait for it to get inspected and approved. I would want to get things done as quickly as possible). Do I have the right to refuse a possible tenant if they are using section 8? Or would it be against the law?

Thanks.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

No; in Virginia it is not a "given" that you "must" accept a Section 8 applicant.

If contacted by someone with a voucher you can simply tell them no, you are not part of this program; your rental unit has not been inspected and thus "approved" for Section 8....or that you only do month to month tenancies (your lease with Section 8 would be a yearly one).

Gail

 

[concerned1977]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[FarmerJ]

Concerned there is one other thing about S8 that many dont realize, the HAP (housing assistance program) contract gives them the right to do a annual re inspect that can occur anywhere from 60 to 120 days before the lease is actually up for renewal, if a LL finds them self in the situation that they are planning on not renewing the lease and the tenant has created damages S8 will send LL notice to repair ( no they dont care if its tenant created damages or not) and if a LL would rather wait and get the tenant out first before making repairs , it doesnt matter, s8 has the right to put the LL on notice that they will start abatement if repairs are not done , in the end what that means is the HAP will not pay the portion of the rent that was contracted or worse yet S8 tenant didnt report a change and S8 with holds the payment to recover from the tenant a over payment and tenant doesnt have the means to pay the new amount . Those kind of rules equate to LL agreeing to accept S8 operating rules (dictating how your rental will be run ) and in some markets there are rent caps which may be less than the actual market rate.

 

[concerned1977]

Thanks Farmer

Those are some of the types of things that worry me about HAP and I don't want to deal with it. That's why I wanted to make sure it was ok to deny/reject based on that.

Thanks again.

 

[atomizer]

You have a valid concern. Keep on top of regulations relating to section 8, and you should be able to counter any efforts the Obama Regime may delegate in the future regarding section 8.

One of the problems I have with section 8 is that they are always home, and have many visitors coming in an out. This causes increased wear and tear and personal problems between the occupants and other tenants. With the younger crowd, there is also an increase in illegal drug use that will bring about negative attention from neighbors and local authorities.