How do you screen Section 8 tenants?

[Daniel Thibeault]

My Tenant is moving out soon and I have a lot of applications to sort through on Zillow. ALOT of them mention section 8 and that they have a voucher. But how can I verify it? is there a particular form they have or can i call some government office? Any Guidance would be much appreciated. 

[Julie Hartman]

Each section 8 recipient will have a case worker and that person can be your contact point. As the landlord, there will be requirements for you to meet in order to accept these tenants. They will most likely require that you have an inspection completed of the property to ensure it meets certain safety standards. It it doesn't, they will expect you to remediate in order to move forward. Hopefully your property is already in compliance with safety standards anyway. In terms of screening someone on section 8, you will screen them just like everyone else; a consistent screening process ensures you are fair housing compliant. We also tell section 8 applicants that while we do accept it, we don't have to wait for them to gets things squared away with regard to their voucher, etc. We move forward with the most qualified applicant and do not hold a property waiting for paperwork to clear. Having said all that, the section 8 applicants that we've had in the past, have been some of the most polite and thankful people we've dealt with.