How to Fill Out and Submit the RFTA: Owner, Tenant, and PHA Review

To fill out a Request for Tenancy Approval, the landlord completes HUD Form 52517 with the unit address, proposed rent, utility responsibilities, and required certifications, you sign as the tenant, and the signed form goes to the Public Housing Agency that issued your voucher. Nothing else in the leasing process can move forward until that form is on file: the PHA will not schedule the inspection, check rent reasonableness, or approve the tenancy without it.

Where to Get the Form

HUD Form 52517 is available as a downloadable PDF from HUD’s landlord forms page at hud.gov. Your PHA may also hand you printed copies during your voucher briefing or post the form on its own website. Some agencies have moved to online portals where the owner enters the same fields electronically, but the information required is identical.¹

What the Owner Fills In

The owner does most of the work on the RTA. When you find a unit and the landlord agrees to rent to you, the owner completes the top of the form with the facts the PHA needs to evaluate the tenancy.

The name of the PHA that issued your voucher.
The full unit address, including apartment or unit number, city, state, and ZIP code.
The number of bedrooms, which must match or fall within the bedroom size your voucher approved.
The year the building was constructed. Anything before 1978 triggers lead-based paint requirements.
The requested lease start date.
The proposed monthly rent.
The security deposit amount, which cannot exceed what the owner charges unassisted tenants for comparable units.
The date the unit is available for inspection.
The structure type: single-family detached, semi-detached, rowhouse or townhouse, low-rise apartment, high-rise apartment, or manufactured home.
Any other federal subsidy the property already receives, such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME funds, or Section 236.

A separate grid handles utilities and appliances. For heating, cooking, water heating, other electric, water, sewer, trash collection, and air conditioning, the owner marks whether the owner (“O”) or the tenant (“T”) pays. The owner also indicates who supplies the refrigerator and range or microwave. Unless the form says otherwise, the owner is responsible for all utilities and must provide the refrigerator and range.² This section matters more than it looks: tenant-paid utilities get added to the rent through the PHA’s utility allowance, which changes what your family share ends up being.

The Owner’s Certifications

Section 12 is where most problems surface. The owner signs three statements under penalty of perjury, and errors here regularly kill approvals.

The first is on comparable rents. Owners with more than four units in the same project must list the address, unit number, date rented, and rental amount for the three most recently leased comparable unassisted units.² The PHA uses these figures to see whether the proposed voucher rent matches what unassisted tenants pay. Inflating the voucher rent above market is one of the fastest routes to a denial.

The second is family relationship disclosure. The owner certifies that no principal or interested party in the property is a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sister, or brother of any household member. The only exception is when the PHA has approved the arrangement as a reasonable accommodation for a family member with a disability.³

The third is lead-based paint. If the building was constructed before January 1, 1978, the owner must either certify that a certified inspector has found the unit lead-free or attach a completed lead hazard disclosure confirming the owner gave you HUD’s lead hazard information pamphlet. Buildings from 1978 or later simply check the box stating the requirement does not apply.²

The certification block ends with a warning: knowingly submitting false information can lead to criminal penalties, including up to five years of confinement, and civil fines under multiple federal statutes.

What You Sign as the Tenant

Your part is short. You sign and date the bottom of the form, list your current mailing address and phone number, and confirm the information is accurate. One line on the form deserves your attention: the PHA has not screened your behavior or suitability as a tenant. That job belongs entirely to the owner.² The landlord may run a credit check, call references, and apply the same screening criteria used for unassisted tenants. A voucher does not bypass the owner’s normal selection process.

Submitting the Form and Your Search Window

Once both signatures are on the form, it goes to the PHA that issued your voucher. Delivery methods vary. Some agencies accept the form by email, some require an online portal, and some still want paper copies delivered by hand or by mail. Ask your PHA during your voucher briefing which method they use and what to attach, such as a copy of the owner’s proposed lease.

Time matters. After you receive your voucher, you have a search window of 60 to 120 days, set by your PHA, to find a willing landlord and submit a completed RTA.⁴ If you cannot find a unit before that window closes, contact your PHA and ask for an extension before the deadline passes. Letting the voucher expire means going back on the waiting list.

Submit the RTA as early in your search window as you can. The PHA has to run an inspection, check rent reasonableness, and process the approval before the lease can start, and none of that begins until the signed form arrives.

What the PHA Checks Before Approving

The PHA reviews the RTA and, if it looks complete, moves through three checks.

Housing Quality Standards Inspection

The PHA schedules an inspection of the unit against HUD’s Housing Quality Standards. For PHAs with up to 1,250 budgeted voucher units, the inspection must happen within 15 days of receiving the RTA. Larger PHAs must complete it within a “reasonable time,” though the regulation says they should aim for the same 15-day window when practicable.⁵ The 15-day clock pauses if the unit is not available for the inspector to enter. Common failure points include missing smoke detectors, broken window locks, plumbing leaks, and, in pre-1978 buildings, deteriorated paint.⁶

Rent Reasonableness

Separately from the inspection, the PHA compares the proposed rent to rents for similar unassisted units in the local market. The comparison looks at location, quality, size, unit type, age, amenities, housing services, maintenance, and owner-provided utilities.⁷ If the owner is charging voucher tenants more than the market would bear, the PHA will negotiate the rent down or deny approval.

Your Share at Move-In

You can choose a unit where the gross rent, meaning the contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, exceeds the PHA’s payment standard. But at initial move-in, your share of the rent cannot exceed 40 percent of your family’s adjusted monthly income.⁸ If the proposed rent pushes your share above that line, the PHA cannot approve the tenancy unless the owner lowers the rent.

Common Reasons Approval Is Denied

Knowing why RTAs get rejected keeps you from burning search days on units that will not pass:

The unit fails the HQS inspection and the owner does not correct the deficiencies before the lease start date.
The proposed rent exceeds what comparable unassisted tenants pay in the area.
Your family share at initial lease-up would exceed 40 percent of adjusted monthly income.
The owner’s lease does not include HUD’s tenancy addendum word-for-word. No paraphrasing is allowed.⁹
The owner is debarred or suspended by the federal government, or a court has found the owner violated the Fair Housing Act.³
The owner is a close relative of a household member and the PHA has not granted a disability-related reasonable accommodation.
The unit type is ineligible, such as public housing, a unit already receiving project-based Section 8, a nursing home, a college dormitory, or an owner-occupied unit.

Practical Tips to Avoid Delay

Start looking for a unit the day your voucher is issued, not a week later. The 60-to-120-day window sounds generous until inspection scheduling, repairs, and PHA processing eat into it.

Before the owner fills out the form, have a straight conversation about rent. If the proposed rent clearly exceeds the PHA’s payment standard for your bedroom size, do the math on whether your family share would still stay under 40 percent of your adjusted income. Submitting an RTA for a unit you cannot afford burns days off your search clock.

Ask the owner to walk through the property with the HQS checklist in mind before the inspector arrives. A missing smoke detector, a broken window lock, a leaking faucet, or peeling paint in an older building is usually a same-day fix, but a failed inspection means a re-inspection, more delays, and the risk that your voucher expires before the unit clears.

Keep copies of everything you sign and everything you send: the RTA, the proposed lease, your voucher paperwork, and any correspondence with the PHA. If a dispute later comes up about when you submitted the form or what the owner proposed, your paper trail is the only thing that will settle it.

1
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Choice Voucher Program – Forms for Landlords
2
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Request for Tenancy Approval – HUD Form 52517
3
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.306 – PHA Disapproval of Owner
4
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Choice Voucher Tenants
5
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.305 – PHA Approval of Assisted Tenancy
6
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Inspection Checklist – HUD Form 52580
7
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Rent Reasonableness Guidebook
8
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 982 Subpart K – Rent and Housing Assistance Payment
9
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.308 – Lease and Tenancy