Request for Tenancy Approval (HUD-52517): Landlord Filing and PHA Review

HUD Form 52517, the Request for Tenancy Approval, is the document a landlord fills out and signs with a Housing Choice Voucher tenant to tell the local Public Housing Authority (PHA) that the tenant wants to rent a specific unit. Until the PHA has it, nothing moves: no rent review, no inspection, no subsidy payments. The form gathers property details, the proposed rent, utility and appliance arrangements, and a set of owner certifications that carry legal weight.¹

What You Fill In

The top of the form is straightforward property and lease information. You provide the full street address including any unit number, the proposed monthly rent, and the security deposit you plan to collect. You also list the date the unit will be available for inspection and identify the structure type, with choices that run from a single-family detached home up to a high-rise of five or more stories.¹

A larger portion of the form deals with who pays for what. For each utility category — heating, cooking, water heating, general electric, water, sewer, and trash — you mark whether the owner or the tenant is responsible. You do the same for the refrigerator and the range or microwave. If you leave a box blank, the default assumption is that you, the owner, are paying that utility and providing that appliance.¹

Getting this section right is not just neatness. The PHA uses your entries to calculate the tenant’s utility allowance, which feeds directly into the gross rent figure and the monthly amount the agency will pay you.

The Owner Certifications

The bottom of the form is where you sign, and the signature line is doing real work. You are attesting under penalty of perjury that the information on the form is accurate. Federal law provides for criminal penalties including fines and up to five years of confinement for knowingly submitting false information.¹

Two specific certifications sit alongside the general truthfulness pledge. First, you must confirm you are not a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of any member of the tenant household, unless the PHA has granted an exception as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability. Second, if the building has more than four units, you must list the rents you currently charge on comparable unassisted units in the same property. The PHA uses those numbers in its rent evaluation, and leaving the section blank on a qualifying building will stall your application.¹

The Lead-Based Paint Box

The form asks you to check one of three boxes about lead-based paint. If the property was built on or after January 1, 1978, the federal disclosure requirements do not apply and you check that box. If the property is older, you have two options: certify that a qualified inspector has found the unit free of lead-based paint, or attach a written disclosure of all known lead hazards along with confirmation that you gave the tenant the EPA’s lead hazard information pamphlet.¹

Landlords with pre-1978 properties sometimes underestimate this line. A missing or incomplete lead disclosure is one of the fastest ways to get the form returned.

Signing and Sending It In

Both you and the tenant must sign the form before it goes to the PHA. Under federal regulations, the family is responsible for submitting the request along with a copy of the proposed lease, which must include HUD’s required tenancy addendum.² In practice, many PHAs accept the packet from either party. Common submission methods include mailing the physical form, faxing it, or uploading it through the agency’s online landlord portal. Digital uploads tend to move fastest.

Speed matters. The tenant’s voucher has a limited search window, with a minimum initial term of 60 days set by federal regulation. PHAs can grant extensions, but the Request for Tenancy Approval has to be submitted before the voucher expires.³ A landlord who sits on the form for three weeks can cost the tenant the voucher entirely.

What the PHA Does Next

Once the form arrives, the review begins. Smaller PHAs (those administering up to 1,250 vouchers) must inspect the unit, make a determination, and notify both the owner and the family within 15 days. Larger agencies are held to a “reasonable time” standard, though the regulation still pushes them toward the same 15-day target when practicable.⁴ During this window the PHA evaluates the rent, confirms the tenant’s eligibility, and schedules the inspection.

Rent Reasonableness

The PHA cannot approve any lease until it decides the proposed rent is reasonable compared to similar unassisted units in the local market. The agency looks at location, size, age, condition, and any amenities or services included under the lease.⁵ If your building has more than four units, the comparable rents you listed on the form feed straight into this analysis. For smaller properties, the PHA works from its own market data.

If the agency finds your proposed rent too high, it will typically offer a lower figure. You can accept or reject it. There is no formal appeal procedure written into the regulation for rent reasonableness disputes. Your practical leverage is documentation: what similar unassisted units actually rent for in the area, especially units you own that are rented at market rate.

The 40 Percent Affordability Cap

Even a “reasonable” rent can still sink the tenancy. At initial lease-up, the tenant’s total share (their rent portion plus utilities they pay) cannot exceed 40 percent of their monthly adjusted income.⁴ If the proposed rent pushes the tenant past that ceiling, the PHA will reject the tenancy regardless of the market comparison. Deals fall apart at this line more often than at any other.

The math depends on the difference between two figures. The “rent to owner” is what you receive under the lease. The “gross rent” is the rent to owner plus the utility allowance for any utilities the tenant pays directly. If you cover all utilities, the two numbers are the same.⁶ The PHA’s payment standard applies to gross rent, so utility responsibilities on the form ripple through everything downstream.

The Inspection That Follows the Form

Every unit has to pass a physical inspection before the PHA can approve the tenancy and execute the subsidy contract. The inspector evaluates whether the unit is safe and sanitary, checking plumbing and electrical systems, smoke detectors, window locks, and more.⁷

As of 2026, most PHAs still use the traditional Housing Quality Standards under 24 CFR 982.401 for voucher inspections. HUD has been transitioning the program to a newer framework called NSPIRE (National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate), but the compliance deadline for voucher programs has been extended to February 1, 2027. Until then, PHAs may adopt NSPIRE early or continue with HQS.⁸ Ask your PHA which standard they are applying before the inspection so you know what to prepare for.

Failure Points That Cost You Time

Certain deficiencies come up over and over in initial inspections. Fixing them before the inspector arrives is faster than fixing them after:

Smoke detectors in every bedroom and adjacent hallway; carbon monoxide detectors where the unit has gas appliances, a fuel-burning fireplace, or an attached garage.
Windows with working locks, panes intact, and the ability to stay open on their own. Plexiglass patches do not count as acceptable repairs.
A heating system that maintains at least 65 degrees indoors, tested regardless of season.
No electrical hazards: outlet covers in place, no exposed wiring, no frayed cords, no fixtures hanging from wires without proper support.⁷
Handrails on stairways with four or more consecutive steps; railings on any unprotected height 30 inches or more above ground.
A water heater with a temperature-pressure relief valve and a downward discharge pipe.
No chipping or peeling paint inside or outside the unit in pre-1978 buildings.
No double-keyed deadbolts. Security bars on windows must have a quick-release mechanism that needs no key or special tool.

If the unit fails for a life-threatening issue such as exposed wiring near water, non-functioning heat in winter, or a gas leak, you have 24 hours to fix it after the PHA notifies you. For everything else, the standard repair window is 30 days.⁹ The PHA then reinspects to confirm the work. Every day of delay pushes back the lease start and your first payment.

Some PHAs use a non-life-threatening deficiencies policy that allows them to execute the HAP contract with minor items still outstanding, provided no life-threatening deficiencies remain. Under that approach, you get 30 days from the contract’s effective date to finish the repairs, but the tenant can move in and payments can begin.⁴ Ask your PHA whether they operate this way; it can shave weeks off your timeline.

One Thing the Form Does Not Decide

Submitting the Request for Tenancy Approval does not commit you to renting to anyone the PHA has issued a voucher to. The PHA handles income verification and voucher eligibility, but tenant screening for suitability is your responsibility.¹⁰ You keep the right to apply the same criteria you use for any other applicant — credit history, rental references, criminal background, and verification of the tenant’s income for their portion of the rent — as long as the criteria are applied consistently and comply with fair housing laws.

1
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Request for Tenancy Approval (HUD Form 52517)
2
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.302 – Issuance of Voucher; Requesting PHA Approval of Assisted Tenancy
3
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.303 – Term of Voucher
4
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.305 – PHA Approval of Assisted Tenancy
5
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.507 – Rent to Owner: Reasonable Rent
6
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Choice Voucher Program Guidebook: Calculating Rent and HAP Payments
7
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Notice PIH 2011-29 (HA) – HQS Inspections for the Housing Choice Voucher Program
8
Federal Register. Extension of NSPIRE Compliance Date for Housing Choice Voucher Programs
9
eCFR. 24 CFR 982.405 – PHA Unit Inspection
10
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PIH HCV Landlord Resources