Raising section 8 Rent

[Sean Fisher]

I am buying a property that has existing section 8 tenants that are month to month.Once I close I would like to raise the rents.  The town does not have rent control.  Is there certain guidelines I would need to follow in order to raise these rents Since they see section 8?

[Marc Winter]

I have never experienced a month-to-month section 8 portable voucher.  We've had dozens of section 8 tenants, and each local housing authority that administers the program gives a standard section 8 one-year lease.

So, there may be a month-to-month agreement underlying the sec 8 lease between owner and tenant:  best to check with the housing authority in your municipality.

That being said, section 8 will inspect the unit on an annual basis, normally right around the end/start of new leasing term.  We always give 60 day notice in writing to authority and tenant of new rent (increase).  That must happen 60 days BEFORE sec 8 lease renewal.

BTW, I am not aware of any guidelines in how much of an increase you can ask for.  

I'll be interested to learn how this works out for you!

Good luck.