Raising rent as a new owner with section 8 tenants - Oakland

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Raising rent as a new owner with section 8 tenants - Oakland

Justin Pumpr
Oakland, CA · Member since 2015 · 109 posts · 41 votes

Hi all,

first time poster here. I've looked through some of the other posts and it doesn't seem like this has been properly answered, so I was hoping for some info.

I am on the cusp of buying a duplex. One unit is vacant (I plan to live in this one) and one is occupied by section 8 tenants. The rental unit is a 3 bedroom and the current rent is $1,484. According to this site (http://www.huduser.gov/datasets/fmr/fmr_il_history...) the fair market rate for a 3-bedroom unit is $2,204.

My question, as a new owner, can I increase the rent to the fair market rate? Section-8 isn't applicable to rent control, but I'm not sure if this is too much of an increase.

To make things a bit more complicated, their voucher is for 2 people, for there are more than 2 people living there. This is a separate issue though and I'll probably post that separately.

Thanks for taking the time!

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  • James WilcoxBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Bowling Green KY ~ Lexington, KY · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 603 votes
    10y

    @Justin Pumpr once you are the owner of the duplex you can get your section 8 tenants contact or case worker. You should talk to them about what you should do in this particular case. They will have the answers for you. You should have to submit to them what you would like to increase to rent to. You will have to work within their guidelines and regulations.

    I am pretty sure there are limits on what you can increase the rent by in one go (ex. 8%) and usually only once every 12 months or so. The rules and regulations I think differ from state to state. 

    IMO it would be very unlikely that you will be able to raise the rent up to that market price. Also if you do have a dramatic increase on the rent your tenants might just leave leaving you with a vacancy. That could be a good thing or bad.

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  • Kevin Harrison
    Investor · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2015 · 476 posts · 197 votes
    10y

    If I were you I would see what I could do about raising the rent through section 8. If that did not satisfy me I would go ahead and not renew their lease at the end of the term, sighting a loss of almost $800 a month. then suck up a month or 2 of vacancy while completing turnover and get a new tenant at market rate.

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