To avoid the horrific stereotypes that cause section 8 recipients to remain or become homeless, if the applicant was screened and approved then moved in....then tell the owner or landlord ....heres my housing choice voucher. Isn't the owner/landlord in legal obligation to accept it?

Just because the tenant was approved, it doesn't mean that the landlord will accept Section 8. The section 8 program has many requirements. Among them, that the landlord complete copious paperwork, provide the government agency with their SSN or TIN, which will be forwarded to the IRS, another gov't agency. The unit itself must pass inspection. If the landlord doesn't make the repairs (not all of which are reasonable or necessary) the Section 8 program won't pay. If there is a screwup in the office, they won't pay. If the tenant messes up, they won't pay.

In some jurisdictions, like mine, there is no requirement for a landlord to accept section 8.

The screening process includes discovery of where the applicant will be getting the money to pay for the apartment. So an applicant will be found to not have a job, or bank account or previous address during the discovery process.

Applicants are eager to let landlords know that they are being supported by Section 8 taxpayer money. The problem is that landlords can not always pass the Section 8 screening process. Section 8 is also known to be a rather confused part of our government which does not pay on time, loses paperwork and does not properly handle it's clients who tear up apartments and create havoc.

Susan... in Oregon you must consider source of income, and that includes vouchers...

However your screening or criteria can remain unchanged

as long as you do not discriminate on source.

However your app should have asked about income and be verified... I'd suggest you review your app.

ORS 90.222, 2015/16.

The statute that allows landlords to require Renter’s Insurance now clarifies that the landlord may also require the resident

name the Landlord as an Interested Party on the policy.

It further authorizes the insurer to notify the landlord of cancellation or nonrenewal of the policy, reduction of policy coverage, or removal of landlord as an interested party

Go to the website for the council or call them

If she is still there ask for Jo Becker

If you screened and had a tenant move in. Why would you care who pays you.

But the voucher is only good if it pays you. So up to the tenant to follow thru with the paperwork. And if the place does not pass inspection the voucher pays -0-.

I suspect Susan is a Tenant who wants to employ this strategy. If you have great difficulty finding decent housing with a voucher, the earlier posts should help clarify some of the reasons why that may happen. Yes, it is true that not everyone with a voucher will necessarily abuse a property and the landlord - but unfortunately the odds are not good. And the system itself is broken.

If you find a landlord who does not screen an applicant at all - which is the only way this might be possible - that would be a landlord who does't care at all who takes possession of their property, and that might not be a habitable place. Or it would be a landlord who is so green they do not know what they are doing - which means they definitely have not gone through the process of qualifying their property to be at section 8 standards. Good Landlords screen people and would surely find the truth. Do not lie on an application - that's the first & easiest way to be disqualified.

Bottom line: Don't

I'm not sure if Susan is a land lord or a tenant.... I was thinking LL at first but DJ has me wondering.

Regardless, the bottom line answer is "it depends."

A voucher is not a guaranteed free pass to a house. The owner / manager probably has a screening process that includes a credit check, verification of current and past land lord references, criminal background, and income. A person has to have more than just a voucher to eat, pay utilities, carry insurance, etc. There are MANY reasons a land lord can legitimately, legally deny a voucher holder even if income is a protected class in that state. In MO, source of income is not a protected class. Not sure about OR law. I suggest reading up on it for yourself. Even the OR land lords who respond might not know the correct answer today. Laws change frequently.

My suggestions for LLs or tenants wanting to participate in the Sec 8 program is to make an in-depth study of the requirements, duties, and responsibilities of all three parties: the tenant, the LL, and the agency cutting the checks. It's a 3-ways partners, and the Govt basically gets permission to be all up in your stuff. It is not your typical LL/tenant relationship, no matter how much Sec 8 tries to claim that it's "no different." BS! I've been there done that and it's considerably different knowing the Govt can and will amend the agreement at will and there's little to nothing either the LL or tenant can do about it.

Also, it bears repeating, Housing Authorities vary a great deal. Some treat landlords fairly and are reasonable, others treat us like we are Satan.

Before you accept a S8 applicant, make sure you know the reputation (from other landlords) of the Housing Authority.

There are 2 in my neck of the woods that I won't deal with. When a phone applicant tells me they are on S8, I immediately ask which HA issued the certificate. I've told many applicants, "I won't deal with that Housing Authority again".

It takes too long to get a home approved for S8. So, if tenant doesn't have move in money right away, the next person likely does.

I will never take Sec-8 again and it is NOT because of the source of the money. Money is money. The problem as stated above is that the Program is broken, and the LLs do not GET the contracted money. But also because it is a govt program, you are kept from suing for your missing money. You have made a deal with the devil and THEY now become the powerful partner in YOUR business.

The people administering the program are incompetent. Much personnel turnover means many don't know their own jobs and blunder and bluff. I have found some that don't even know English, and some cannot do simple math like subtraction or multiplication. Every new administration adds a new rule that contradicts some other rule that was not deleted when the new rule was added. Dif people point to dif rules to back up their rulings, and these often conflict with each other, and what was done the last time.

The policy for reducing their stress levels is: to not return phone calls, make people wait in waiting rooms, go to long lunches, and close early. Your paperwork will be regularly lost, and your payment regularly screwed-up. They take the side of their 'client' against the LL (no matter what damage or illegality the tenant has done). Then they provide the perpetrator with a clean new property to destroy and leave the LL with the damage costs and the court costs.

The inspectors do not know what they are doing. Their knowledge of what is and isn't allowed, and what 'needs' to be changed/repaired changes with inspectors. And changes

according to what mood they are in. 3 dif inspectors inspected the same identical house and gave 3 dif lists of needed repairs--and 2 of them contradicted each other. Had me undo something the other inspector required!

Sec 8 income:

You can maintain the 3x income requirement but Sec 8 only allows you to consider the rent the tenant is responsible for i.e. their share is $200/m then they need $600 in monthly income.

I took Sec 8 when the market was down since it was guaranteed income but no longer. As Sid mentioned when the recession hit they reset my rents by <25%. Today you can't get a rent increase of more than 2% annually even if that is well under market value.

Sid and Lynda have obviously had really bad experiences with their local offices. Ours was pretty good and sided with the LL but the inspections really drove me crazy. If the tenant broke it we had to fix it and couldn't bill the tenant had to wait till they moved out and take it out of SD. No thanks.

So the tenant qualified WITHOUT Section 8? And now wants to say "here is my free pass/partial rent(whatever)? Nope. Section 8 needs to approve it in my area and I don't have time to deal with it. No go if it is presented after the fact. Doesn't Section 8 need to know where the house is?If the tenant can qualify without,they should have services reduced or taken away and given to someone who NEEDS it. I get using it as income but in my area the place needs APPROVAL from Housing. The voucher may not be valid foryour place and you might get 0 as stated above.

I have a lot of section 8 tenants. The first thing a section 8 tenant asks is, do you accept section 8. The apartment get inspected. I cant see the landlord being surprised at some point.

To: Pattyk[MO]