[Jingyel]

Hi Everyone,

I am a new landlord. I have a 2 bedroom townhouse in New Haven for lease.

There is a tenant applicant with section 8 voucher. She wanted to move in with her two sons, one 24, the other one 19. The voucher has all of their names, but she told me she just wanted to lease the property under her name alone.

Now my question is

1) shall I request the background check and lease signed for all three of them or just the mother?

2) my rental is $1500/mo. She told me the voucher can only pay for $1350, and she would pay the difference. Shall I accept that?

Thanks for your reply.

Best Regards,

Jingye Li

[parentologist]

First of all, all three adults need to be on the lease. You would have to evict all three of them, were they not to pay their portion of the rent. Second of all, as far as I know, there are no housing authorities in CT which allow you to take more from the tenant than the amount approved by the housing authority. That is not to say that there aren't landlords who do accept more, but you're putting yourself in a very vulnerable position if you do. If the housing authority finds out, they can and will ban you from the program. So you're putting your tenant in the position of having something to hold over your head. If you had to evict them, they can threaten to rat you out to the housing authority, and you'd never be able to rent to Section 8 again.

If you want to know whether you can accept additional rent from the tenant, above what Section 8 says that they should pay, just call the housing authority issuing the voucher and ask them. Then you'll have the correct answer.

Oh, and you absolutely need a background check on all of them! The chances are fair to middling that there are issues with the adult kids, especially if Mama doesn't want them on the lease or having a background check done.

BTW, you need to have everything set and the application submitted early in the month. Then Section8 will schedule an inspection, and hopefully you'll be approved for the first of the next month. Often, it gets delayed, and things don't start for another month.

[dazzleman]

Sounds like trouble to me.

[MrGompers]

The fact she asked that her 2 kids not be on the lease sounds suspicious to me. I would turn them away for this reason alone.

Also, I don't know why 2 adults aged 19 + 24 would be on a housing voucher as kids. Aren't they adults and need to qualify for vouchers on their own ? I hate to speculate since I don't know the people, but my guess is there's a high probability they have criminal backgrounds.

If you have their names and current address you can also search the CT sex offender database.

Connecticut Sex Offender Registry Unit- Contact

This is only for sex crimes, so if someone was convicted of selling drugs it won't show up here.

[7 Wishes]

I am not 100% sure, but i think you can accept more rent, but as someone said the best bet is to call the housing . authority. My mom is a real estate agent who does a lot of Section. 8 rentals, but it is in NY which may be different. From CT. And i know that landlords can reject Section 8 so why couldnt they charge more rent

[RogerAnthony]

No, section 8 does not permit the landlord to legally accept more rent than the voucher is for. Please don't give out misinformation.

[dazzleman]

I would stay out of the business of renting to Section 8.

[HollyhockGarden]

Yes, background checks absolutely need to be done. I do not know these potential tenants. I do want to point out a possible situation where an adult woman [or man] possibly may need to not work, or possibly work part time. There is always a possibility that these two sons are disabled. Disabled children grow up into disabled adults and still need care. Most often the parent(s) are still the caretaker(s). Or sometimes a young adult becomes disabled. There are many scenarios here and sometimes the disabled adult could have disqualifying resources if there was a monetary settlement. That is another reason background checks need to be made on the sons.

I am just pointing this out because we do not know who this woman is and we do not know her circumstances nor her sons. Just trying to point out that every Section 8 tenant is not a criminal.

Yes, if these young males are legitimately disabled, there should be documentation available. Perhaps this woman is care-taking for two sons who have disabilities. Yes, a criminal and background check can be done. But if they are mentally incompetent, I don't think they can be put down as a lease holder, just as a resident.

My mother and father raised a disabled son and have taken care of him all of their adult lives, no Section 8 involved. Most people continue to care for disabled children in their home as long as they are able. I'm just saying, be careful how broad a picture you try to paint. Some Section 8 tenants are very decent people.

Follow the Section 8 rules and require every adult to get the background check. That is the only way to know for sure.

[Jingyel]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your reply. I called her current landlord for background check. The lady told me they behave normally, only call for the normal maintenance and sometimes complain the noise from downstairs. The mom has some mental problem.

I told the mom I need to do background check for all three of them she agreed.

I still need to figure out how she is going to pay the rental difference... I called the local house authority, no one on duty....

I will keep you guys updated on this.

Regards,

Jingye

[Cambium]

I love landlords (usually old timers) that use Section 8 tenants as a plus because the government pays for the rent.

You better make that lease clear as day and firm with many things including leaving the place "as is" and you "entering with notice" and "late payment fees" and ALL 3 ON THE LEASE.

I wouldn't get into that... move on..

Edit... Mental problems??? You're smart enough to start this thread... make the next smart move & move on.