Does a Landlord Have to Accept Section 8 Vouchers?
Posted on 30. Jul, 2009 by Robert Machado in Business
While HomePointe (my property management business) does accept any legal source of income, our clients reserve the right to not participate in the Section 8 Program. The Section 8 Program involves signing a government lease, not ours. It also involves submitting to mandatory inspections both at move in and annually. Finally, it also mandates longer notices than currently in force in the State of California.
Here is a quote from the California Apartment Association for your review.
Q. Can I turn down a prospective resident because he/she receives a federal or state subsidy?
A. No. State law, defines source of income as “lawful, verifiable income paid directly to a resident or paid to a representative of a tenant.” The intent of this law is to protect residents from discrimination in housing based upon their source of income. The law, however, does not require an owner to participate in the Section 8 rental assistance program.
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Marc Courtenay: Thanks for your comment. Please consider sharing t...
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In NY the law has recently changed; a landlord cannot reject a section 8 Voucher
Luis-Your comment was completely false. In NYC for existing tenants who are rent-stablized, a landlord must accept a section 8 voucher. Please read below.
A Manhattan judge has held that a recently enacted amendment to New York City’s Human Rights Law requires landlords to accept federal housing subsidies from existing rent-stabilized tenants as well as from tenants who moved in after the law was passed.
When a group of low-income tenants tried to use Section 8 vouchers to pay part of their rent, their landlords claimed a provision of 2008′s Local Law 10, which bars landlords from discriminating based on an individual’s lawful income source, only applied to prospective tenants and was preempted by federal and state law.
The case was one of two actions by tenants challenging the refusal of landlords to take the federal vouchers. Another group of tenants argued the landlords’ actions violated the anti-discrimination language of the J-51 program from which the landlords received tax breaks. After consolidating the two cases, Acting Supreme Court Justice Marcy S. Friedman (See Profile) held in Tapia v. Successful Management Corp., 400563/08, that excluding current tenants violated both Local Law 10 and J-51.
Additionally, As a landlord in NY state, you do not have to accept Section 8. It is the landlords right to accept or refuse Section 8.
the landlord has to accept it if the price is a within the threshold of what is permisible by section 8, plus they have to own a certain amount of units, I think 6. And they don’t have to be all in one location. Landlords of less than 6 units dont have to take it.