For landlords
Renting to a tenant with a housing voucher
With a Housing Choice Voucher, the local housing authority pays part of the rent straight to you each month and the tenant pays the rest. Before the lease starts, the authority inspects the home, checks that the rent is reasonable against similar unassisted homes, and signs a Housing Assistance Payments contract with you. In Miami-Dade and Broward you can't turn an applicant away because of the voucher, but you screen them the same way as anyone else.
Updated Last checked 3 min read
Quick answer
- The housing authority pays its share to you directly. The tenant pays the rest.
- Inspection and rent reasonableness come before the lease starts.
- A first-time voucher family's share can't top 40% of adjusted income at move-in.
- You screen the tenant. The authority only decides voucher eligibility.
- Raising the rent needs 60 days' notice before the lease ends and a new reasonableness check.
On this page
How the money flows
The tenant's voucher comes from a public housing agency, such as Miami-Dade County's Housing and Community Development department or the Broward County Housing Authority. Once the tenancy is approved, the agency pays its monthly Housing Assistance Payment to you, and the tenant pays their share of the rent. Utilities follow the lease.
- Tenant's share, set by the agency from household income
- $650
- Housing Assistance Payment from the agency
- $1,650
- Rent you receive each month
- $2,300
Illustrative split. The agency calculates each household's share.
From application to move-in
Step 1: Screen as usual
Apply your written criteria for rental history and conduct. HUD's lease-up guide says the owner screens applicants, not the agency.
Step 2: Request for Tenancy Approval
You and the tenant fill it out and the tenant turns it in to the agency.
Step 3: Inspection
The agency inspects the home against HUD's housing quality standards before the lease starts, and again at least every two years.
Step 4: Rent reasonableness
The agency compares your rent with similar unassisted homes and with what you charge unassisted tenants in the same building.
Step 5: Contract and lease
You sign the HAP contract with the agency and a lease with the tenant that includes HUD's tenancy addendum.
Most first inspections fail on small things like working smoke detectors, outlet covers, window locks and hot water, so walk the home first. Rent can also run into the agency's affordability cap. For a family getting a voucher for the first time, if the rent pushes their share above 40% of adjusted monthly income, the agency can't approve it, even if you and the tenant agree.
Source of income rules in South Florida
Miami-Dade and Broward fair housing ordinances bar landlords from refusing a tenant because of a lawful source of income, including a housing voucher. Whether the 2023 state preemption reaches those ordinances is unsettled, and following them costs a careful landlord little. An ad saying "no Section 8" invites a complaint. You can still turn down an applicant who fails your written criteria on something else, like a recent eviction, as long as you apply the same standard to every applicant.
Rent, renewals and repairs
For a higher rent at renewal, HUD's guide has you send the increase 60 days before the lease term ends, and the agency redoes the reasonableness check before it takes effect. Rents in the voucher program track local payment standards, which in much of South Florida are set by ZIP code from HUD's Small Area Fair Market Rents. The numbers are explained in what the rent numbers mean.
Repairs follow the same Florida law as any tenancy, and the agency adds its own clock. Life-threatening problems found on an inspection have to be fixed within 24 hours, and others within the time the agency sets, or it can stop paying its share until they're fixed.
Is it worth it?
Most of the rent arrives from a government agency on a schedule. The cost is paperwork and a wait for the first inspection.
Questions people ask
Do I have to accept Section 8 in Florida?
State law doesn't require it. Miami-Dade and Broward ordinances bar refusing a tenant because they pay with a voucher, and whether the 2023 preemption reaches them is unsettled, so follow them. Your other written criteria still apply.
Who pays the security deposit with a housing voucher?
The tenant pays it, under HUD's lease-up process. Hold it under section 83.49 like any other deposit.
How does the housing authority decide the rent is reasonable?
It compares your rent with similar unassisted homes in the area and with rents you charge unassisted tenants in the same building.
For owners
See where your rent sits against signed leases nearby before the agency compares it.
A licensed agent prices your rental from signed leases, lists it on the MLS and answers your questions within 1 hour, 8am to 9pm.
Questions first? Call 888-601-8344 or email hello@rentvana.com.
Words in this guide
Sources
- HUD: Housing Choice Voucher program, general lease-up process for landlords, PHAs and tenantshud.gov
- HUD: Housing Choice Vouchers, information for tenantshud.gov
- Miami-Dade County Housing and Community Development: Housing Choice Voucher programmiamidade.gov
- Broward County Housing Authoritybchafl.org
- MIAMI REALTORS: Changes in fair housing laws in South Florida (source of income, Section 8 vouchers)miamirealtors.com
- Florida Realtors: State law preempts many local rental rules (August 2023)floridarealtors.org
- HUD User: Small Area Fair Market Rentshuduser.gov
Checked against these sources on by Rentvana Editorial. If something has changed, email hello@rentvana.com and we'll fix it.
Questions?
Call 888-601-8344 to talk to a licensed agent, or email hello@rentvana.com and one gets back to you within 1 hour, 8am to 9pm.