To get your home approved for Section 8, you contact the local Public Housing Agency that runs the Housing Choice Voucher program in your area, prepare the unit to pass a Housing Quality Standards inspection, submit paperwork on a proposed rent the PHA can approve as reasonable, and then sign two contracts once a voucher holder chooses your property: a lease with the tenant and a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with the PHA. Most of the work happens before the inspector shows up.
Who You Are Dealing With
The Housing Choice Voucher program is federal, authorized under the United States Housing Act of 1937, but you will never speak to HUD directly.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC Ch. 8 LOW-INCOME HOUSING HUD funds the program; local PHAs run it, doing the inspections, approving tenancies, and issuing payments.2eCFR. 24 CFR Part 982 – Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance: Housing Choice Voucher Program Every tenancy involves three parties: you, the tenant, and the PHA.
The tenant pays roughly 30% of their adjusted monthly income toward rent, though that share can reach 40% in some cases.3U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing Choice Voucher Tenants The PHA pays you the balance up to the approved rent. That is the appeal for landlords: a large piece of the rent arrives from a government agency each month regardless of the tenant’s finances.4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). PIH HCV Landlord Resources
Contact Your Local PHA
Find your PHA through HUD’s website. Ask two things on the first call. First, what inspection standard do they currently use? HUD has developed a new standard called NSPIRE, but voucher-program PHAs are not required to switch until February 1, 2027, and many still apply the older Housing Quality Standards.5Federal Register. Extension of NSPIRE Compliance Date for Housing Choice Voucher Second, what does their landlord onboarding checklist look like? Some PHAs run orientation sessions for new participants and maintain an online registry where you can list available units.
One boundary worth clearing up before you go further: federal law does not require landlords to accept vouchers, but many states and cities do. As of early 2025, 23 states and the District of Columbia had statewide source-of-income laws, 16 of them explicitly covering voucher holders, and 152 cities and counties in 27 states had passed local ordinances.6HUD Office of Inspector General. Public Housing Authorities and Source of Income Discrimination If you are trying to get approved, this is not your concern; if you own units elsewhere, it may be.
Get the Unit Ready to Pass Inspection
The property has to pass a physical inspection before the PHA will approve the tenancy. Under HQS, inspectors look at the basics: working plumbing, electrical systems in good condition, adequate heating, functional smoke detectors on every level, secure doors and windows, no pest infestations, handrails on staircases with four or more steps, guardrails on elevated porches or balconies, a working stove and refrigerator, and proper bathroom ventilation.7eCFR. 24 CFR 982.401 – Housing Quality Standards
Certain items fail inspections over and over. Fix these first:
- Deteriorated paint in pre-1978 units. Any chipping, peeling, or flaking paint triggers lead concerns when a child under six or a pregnant woman lives (or will live) in the unit. Window wells, door trim, and bathroom ceilings are the frequent trouble spots.
- Electrical problems: reversed polarity on outlets, three-prong outlets with no ground, open slots in the breaker panel, missing outlet covers, and faulty GFCI outlets near water sources.
- Plumbing leaks under sinks, loose toilets, clogged drains, and water heaters missing a temperature-and-pressure relief valve with a proper discharge line.
- Windows: broken panes, missing sashes, windows that will not open or lock, and windows nailed shut.
- Smoke detectors that are missing, have dead batteries, or do not sound when tested.
- Bedrooms without adequate fire escape routes and entry doors that do not close or lock securely.
Failing does not disqualify you permanently. It just pushes back the day you start receiving rent payments, because each re-inspection has to be scheduled.
Lead-Based Paint Disclosure
If the property was built before 1978, federal law requires you to disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards before the tenant signs a lease, provide the tenant with an EPA lead hazard information pamphlet, and hand over any lead inspection reports you have.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property Knowingly failing to disclose carries civil penalties and liability for up to three times the tenant’s damages. The inspection will also specifically flag deteriorated paint in pre-1978 units, so this is not a step you can quietly skip.
Gather Your Documentation
The PHA will ask for these before processing tenancy approval:
- Proof of ownership, typically a recorded deed.
- IRS Form W-9, so the PHA has your taxpayer identification number for HAP payments and IRS reporting.9U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing Choice Voucher Program – Forms for Landlords
- Property insurance showing adequate landlord coverage.
If a property manager runs the unit, expect the PHA to also ask for the management agreement and the manager’s own W-9. Local checklists vary, so confirm the full list with your PHA on that first call.
Submit the Request for Tenancy Approval
The formal approval process begins when a voucher holder chooses your unit. The tenant gives you a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) form. You fill it in with the address, bedroom count, proposed rent, and which utilities you provide versus which the tenant pays.10U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD-52517 Request for Tenancy Approval You send the RFTA to the PHA with a copy of your proposed lease. The PHA then reviews the rent and schedules the inspection.
Agree on a Rent the PHA Will Approve
A common misconception is that the PHA sets your rent. It does not, but it does control what it will subsidize, and there are two separate checks your number has to clear.
Fair Market Rent and the Payment Standard
HUD publishes Fair Market Rents for every metro area and county, estimating the cost of a modest, non-luxury unit at the 40th percentile of the local rental market, including utilities.11eCFR. 24 CFR Part 888 Subpart A – Fair Market Rents Your PHA then sets a payment standard based on the FMR, which under federal rules can fall anywhere from 90% to 110% of the published FMR without HUD approval.12eCFR. 24 CFR 982.503 – Payment Standard Areas, Schedule, and Amounts The payment standard caps the PHA’s maximum subsidy. It is not a cap on what you can ask.
Rent Reasonableness
Separately, the PHA must find your rent “reasonable,” meaning it does not exceed what comparable unassisted units in the area charge. The PHA compares size, condition, location, and amenities against similar private rentals. You also cannot charge a voucher holder more than you charge unassisted tenants for a comparable unit in the same building.13U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PHA Determinations of Rent Reasonableness in the Housing Choice Voucher Program If your number fails, the PHA tells you what it will approve. You can accept it or walk away.
Utilities and Gross Rent
The PHA calculates a gross rent by adding your contract rent to a utility allowance for any utilities the tenant pays directly. If you include all utilities in the rent, contract rent and gross rent are identical. If the tenant pays some utilities separately, the utility allowance reduces the contract rent the PHA can pay you, because the total gross rent still has to fit within what the family’s income and the payment standard support.14U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Calculating Rent and Housing Assistance Payments At initial lease-up, the family’s total housing cost (rent plus utilities) cannot exceed 40% of monthly adjusted income. That constraint should shape how you decide which utilities to include.
Pass Inspection and Sign the Contracts
Once the PHA accepts the rent, an inspector visits. If the unit passes on the first try, contract execution often follows within a few days. If it fails, life-threatening problems must be fixed within 24 hours, and non-life-threatening items generally get a 30-day window, though the PHA may grant a reasonable extension.15eCFR. 24 CFR Part 982 Subpart I – Dwelling Unit: Housing Quality Standards, Subsidy Standards, Inspection and Maintenance The PHA re-inspects, and if satisfied, approves the tenancy.
Approval means signing two documents. First, you and the tenant execute the lease. It must include HUD’s tenancy addendum, added word-for-word; if the addendum conflicts with any other lease provision, the addendum controls.16eCFR. 24 CFR 982.308 – Lease and Tenancy Second, you sign the Housing Assistance Payments contract with the PHA, which is the PHA’s binding commitment to pay its share of the rent every month for the term of the tenancy.10U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD-52517 Request for Tenancy Approval At that point, you are approved. The PHA’s portion typically arrives by direct deposit around the first of the month, and the tenant pays their share separately.
A Note on the Security Deposit
Federal voucher regulations set no specific dollar cap on security deposits, but the PHA can prohibit a deposit that exceeds private market practice or exceeds what you charge unassisted tenants for comparable units.17eCFR. 24 CFR 982.313 – Security Deposit: Amounts Owed by Tenant State and local caps still apply. The PHA does not pay the deposit; the tenant does. Collect it from the tenant the way you would from any renter.
Keeping the Approval in Place
Approval is not a one-time event. The PHA re-inspects periodically to confirm the unit still meets standards, and it recertifies the tenant’s income annually, adjusting the tenant’s and PHA’s shares up or down when income changes.
If a later inspection turns up problems and you miss the cure period, the PHA must abate its payments. The government’s share stops until the unit is compliant, and you cannot collect it from the tenant.15eCFR. 24 CFR Part 982 Subpart I – Dwelling Unit: Housing Quality Standards, Subsidy Standards, Inspection and Maintenance If the unit stays out of compliance for 60 days after the PHA’s finding (or longer if the PHA allows), the PHA terminates the HAP contract entirely, and the tenant gets a new voucher to move elsewhere.18U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Assistance Payments Contract The lesson for a newly approved landlord: a small repair you put off can end the whole arrangement. Handle maintenance the way you would in any other tenancy, and the approval keeps paying.