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Section 8

I have prospective tenants that want to sign a separate agreement outside of their Section 8 agreement to pay the remaining amount of the rent that I'm asking. In other words, Section 8 only covers X and they want a separate agreement for the remaining $450. Has anyone ever dealt with that in MA? Am I being overly suspicious or is something fishy about this?
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My father has had a section 8 tenant for several years with no problems. I think it can be a good situation, but your property needs to be inspected every so often by a govt official. It can be a hassle to. I took a landlord class and was was told section 8 renters can be very good. i have never had one so I cant say too much. Best of luck to you
Well about to start my first one and hope that this person will work out. I tried a person who not on Section * and they worn up thnigs too. So I guess any renter you get is a risk at best. I don't have my own lease agreement and will inspect my house on a regularly bases so hopefully I will stay on top it. I want allow myself to get caught in the sad stories. mtn
did it only once.. never again.  The house was totally trashed...and section 8 doesn't pay damages..or allow me to have a damage deposit on the tenant.    That was the real problem... NO DAMAGE DEPOSIT. any other tenant ..I had 2 months of deposit... section 8..nothing.  NEVER AGAIN  once was more than enough
You have the right to ask for a rent that is reasonable and comparable to similar unassisted private market apartments in the same building and neighborhood. The BHA may not approve a higher rent for an apartment if similar apartments in the building are charged lower rents or if similar apartments in the neighborhood are charged lower rents.
I'm becoming a new LL, with section 8, I am in the process of doing my own contact. I just found out that I would be getting a 1099 form at the end of the year. The young lady is trying to rush me into telling her how much will she be paying. I'm making sure I dot all I's & cross all T's. I can use all the advice anyone have to offer. L TX
Its hard if not impossible to evict a section 8 Think it over carefully
Bad news if sec 8 covers a utility it is deducted from check  You lose either way As far as trashing a place the tenant doesnt need to be sec 8 to trash it I had one that caused 5000$ in damage and she was not a sec 8  Its a matter of checking with LL that is not the one she is renting from when she looking for new place go further back in history as that LL has nothing to lose.
"allow me to have a damage deposit on the tenant. That was the real problem... NO DAMAGE DEPOSIT."  This is absoluetly FALSE.  If this person got told this, they were lied to.  Section 8 Housing tenants MUST pay a deposit like any other tenant.   "Bad news if sec 8 covers a utility it is deducted from check"  Wrong again.  If you charge rent all inclusive the amount you get from housing is determined by the tenants income.  So if you are all inclusive and the rent is 1000.  The tenant pays 30% of their income to you the landlord.   Either way, you will get your entire rent check (unless your tenant doesn't pay their portion).
" I just found out that I would be getting a 1099 form at the end of the year. The young lady is trying to rush me into telling her how much will she be paying."  All landlords should be reporting their rental income on their tax returns.  Because this is HUD they will send a 1099.  So be sure to report the income on your tax return (which you should be doing anyway).   You as the landlord have no control over determining her portion of the rent.  The housing authority is responsible for sending BOTH you and her notice of her portion and their portion of the rent.   Most landlords I know will ask their local technician through section 8 how much the tenant is responsible for when they first get started so they can start collecting rent immediately.
"Its hard if not impossible to evict a section 8 Think it over carefully"  Its hard to evict any tenant LEGALLY.   Each state has its own process.  A lot of landlords evict improperly.    The only difference is landlords can't pull illegal tactics to get rid of someone.
I personally have not, however many people on here have. Hopefully you will get more responses. You can also look through various posts in this forum regarding sec 8, I am sure there is much more info!
Thanks Karen, I found the forum with the horrible stories about Section 8 tenants.
When you do Section 8 (I have ten Sect. 8 units in Chicago) Section 8 runs the show, I just collect the rent on the 1st like clockwork and deal with an inspection every six months. If I ever have an issue with a tenant (noise, damage, tenant vs tenant issues, etc) I just call the Housing Dept and the issue is solved without me lifting a finger. But, in exchange for those bonuses, I have to work with them on their own agenda (government). It takes them 90 days, it's going to take 90 days.
Judith, I always open my properties up to Section 8. But, as the others have mentioned, it comes with its benefits and pitfalls. There are a lot of great section 8 tenants out there. Statistically, the average section 8 tenant will stay in a unit for 4.5 years. This is about double the time of a non-section 8 tenant. Here is the section 8 process -  1) post your property on GoSection8 website or on other sites like craigslist state that you accept section 8 2) Tenant applies to rent your unit 3) Landlord does normal background and credit check just like with every other tenant 4) If you determine that you would like to rent to the section 8 tenant then you have the tenant sign the lease but leave the rental amount and lease start date blank. 5) Take the signed lease to the the HUD. You need this to schedule an inspection of the property 6) They will usually take 2-4 days to schedule and have an inspector out to your property. They will check for things like making sure all electrical is correct, each socket has a plate guard, light switches work, heater works, windows all have locks on them, doors all have locks, entry and exit doors have dead bolt and handle lock, and all appliances work properly. And most importantly, that the price you are asking for the unit is market rate and not too high. 7) If you pass the inspection, then you sign a lease agreement with the city housing authority and complete the lease with the tenant 8) The tenant pays their portion of the security deposit and lease and moves in. 9) the split for the tenant's obligation and what the federal gov't pays depends on the income of the tenant. They are required to pay up to 40% of the gross income in rent/rental costs. So if they make 12,000 / year then they are required to pay $400 / month in rental expenses which means maybe they pay $200 to gas, electric, and water company and they pay you $200 each month and the rest is direct deposited to you on the 1st of every month.  That being said, if the rent in your area for a 2/2 is $800, you can usually ask 10-20% more than that and still have the housing authority accept your rental rate. In this case, if you were able to charge $1000 / month for rent then you would get the $800 every month guaranteed by the Federal Gov't. Then the extra $200 / month is somewhat of a bonus. But, keep in mind that with section 8 you usually have to spend a little more $$ for fix-up upon moveout. It all comes down to getting a good section 8 tenant. If you can find one, you can have a great situation.  Hope this helps, Thomas Tenantopia, Inc Tenant screening and online application tool
Some states will not allow you to turn down those candidates. I would look up your area's laws
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