I don’t know what city you are in, but in Cleveland it works like this: A Sec 8 tenant brings you their package of paperwork to be filled out. You turn this in and an appointment is scheduled for an inspection of your unit. The inspector turns in a report detailing condition of the premises, amenities, # of bedrooms, etc. You have informed them of the rent you are “requesting” on the initial paperwork. Now, another person at Sec. 8 will do what is called a “rent determination” based on the inspectors report, and the area in which your property is located. The rent you are asking for must not exceed what they consider a FMR for that location. (Fair Market Rent) Once they do all of their calculations they will tell you what they will offer to pay, and it will be up to you to accept it. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I am about to do my first S8 rental and am unclear on the rent structure.
The folks at Section 8 told me my SFH would rent for $870/mo. This is above market rent for this area.
Someone else told me that utilities ARE included in this price.
I called Section 8 and they told me the tenant pays for utilities aside from this $870 to me. But - I did get the distinct feeling this Section 8 person is trying hard to sell me on being a S8 landlord.
Posted by ScottFL on January 04, 2003 at 15:10:37:
JCR,
I believe the 870/month that they are quoting is a max rent that can be offered for a particular unit per bedroom size. There is still a consideration on the location of your unit and the fair market rent. You should be able to contact your local FHA office and receive a nice package of information.
Posted by Shaun (NJ) on January 03, 2003 at 12:25:41:
In NJ if it is in the lease that the tenant is responsible for the utilities then the tenant pays utilities. Section 8 will send out a notice that has what the tenant pays and what the owner pays and that is what it is based on. I have not been in a situation yet that rent was negotiated. A year ago I did run into the situation that I rented a property that according to the lease the tenant was to pay all utilities but I made a mistake and checked the box that the owner would pay water so I ended up paying water for a year and when the year was up I didn’t get the full rent increase because I switch the water into the tenants name and they consider that an increase.
Good luck! I have had very good experiences with section 8 so far.
Shaun