SPOA was invited to attend a meeting in Boston with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on November 20, 2024 to provide feedback from small property owners about the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP). The representatives from HUD, based in Washington DC, were joined by representatives from the National Apartment Association (NAA) and local groups representing property owners at the offices of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB). This meeting was part of a "road show" in which HUD and NAA representatives visit different jurisdictions throughout the United States to solicit housing provider experiences with Section 8. SPOA Vice President, Amir Shahsavari, presented the following feedback obtained from small property owners:Inspections are frequently delayed and thereby delay new tenants accessing their homes, leading to lost income for property owners.A new trend is that when Section 8 tenants don't pay rent (for whatever reasons), the housing authorities have also stopped paying rent. The whole premise for accommodating Section 8 tenants is the implicit guarantee that the state/housing authorities pay rent. If that is no longer the case, then this eliminates any incentive for property owners to rent to Section 8 tenants.Tenants tend to ask for inspectors when issues are minimal, rather than reporting these issues to property owners directly. Meanwhile, when their rent payments stop and even when swift remedies are made, inspection schedules take way too long. Could there be a way for property owners to self-report remedies? State/Housing pays security deposits for tenants, but when tenants move these security deposits are refunded to tenants directly. This is essentially free money for tenants and promotes the incentive to move frequently, instead of staying in their homes. This creates a big disincentive to property owners to rent to Section 8 tenants if they have to find new tenants every year.Section 8 tenants increasingly fail to comply with letting property owners access their houses to fix issues that they themselves reported to inspectors. This is creating a big problem for property owners.It is a lengthy 9-12 month process, on average, to evict non-complying Section 8 tenants, which is unfair to deserving tenants who really need housing and presents a catastrophic situation for small property owners who can't collect rent and may thus face foreclosure.The HUD and NAA representatives stated that they would consider creating a new position of property owner liaison to assure that property owners have stronger representation in the process, especially when they encounter challenges. Also mentioned was the need for tenant education to encourage renters to report problems directly to the property owner first, rather than going behind the owner to report to the inspector directly. There was another recommendation to provide digital methods for obtaining rent payments efficiently. HUD and NAA plan to be in touch in the future about the other feedback provided to them. You will find those updates in future SPOA newsletters. In the interim, you can feel free to email us more feedback about your experience with Section 8 at askspoa@gmail.com.
by Amir Shahsavari