I’m an MIT grad student who used to be a consultant in the affordable housing section. Now I’m studying AI and digging into the Section 8 workflows from the landlord side to understand where the real friction is.

I’ve heard from a few people that the RFTA packet slows everything down, especially when it gets bounced back for tiny errors or rent reasonableness issues. I’m exploring whether AI could help cut down on the back-and-forth, but trying to validate whether RFTA is actually the biggest bottleneck.

For landlords here who take vouchers - what slows you down the most?

• Filling out the RFTA

• Getting the packet approved

• Inspection scheduling

• Rent reasonableness

• Waiting on the first payment

Trying to see if this pain is consistent nationwide or varies a lot by city/HA.