Effective January 1, 2020, California implemented two bills which essentially require landlords to accept Section 8 or housing vouchers as an income source from applicants.
Rental property owners cannot discriminate against an applicant or deny the application just because they have a housing voucher. This existed in certain California cities prior to January 1, but now it is a statewide requirement.
Cons of Accepting Section 8 Applications
Previously, it was common for property owners to advertise that they did not participate in Section 8, and wouldn’t consider any residents who had that housing voucher. This was common because participating in the Section 8 program was an administrative burden. There’s a lot of hurdles to cross, including a home inspection, verified habitability, and an approved residency. The delay in getting approved and prepared could cost a lot of money.
Pros of Accepting Section 8 Applications
Most owners weren’t unwilling to accept Section 8 residents; it’s actually a program that many landlords appreciate because it’s a guaranteed source of income. You know the rent will come in every month because it’s coming from a government agency and not an individual.
But for most owners, the Section 8 process simply wasn’t worth their time.
California's property managers, landlords and investors have to stop advertising whether or not they accept Section 8 applicants. You cannot discriminate against anyone with a housing voucher, which means you cannot express that you’d prefer Section 8 applicants didn’t apply. Your printed marketing materials and your online advertising must be reviewed to ensure you are compliant with this new law.
Many investors may be wondering why this is now required.
The technical implication is that Section 8 housing vouchers or any of these vouchers that are described must be considered protected sources of income. If you require specific kinds of income from specific sources only, you’re discriminating against potential residents. So, you can no longer opt not to consider a housing voucher as part of an applicant’s income.
Maintain Section 8 Compliance
As you may have expected, there are some tenants' advocacy groups out there that are already doing some testing by visiting websites and checking application portals. They are making phone calls trying to get property owners to fall into the trap and say they do not accept Section 8 or housing vouchers.
So, we recommend that you be vigilant with your compliance. If you haven’t already removed language like this from your marketing and application materials, you must do so immediately.
There were a number of Oakland rental property owners that were choosing to not participate in Section 8 simply because of the administrative burden and the time constraints in getting the property occupied and rent coming in.
Unfortunately, this legislation does not address or fix the underlying root problem with housing voucher programs. Each one is run by a different housing association with a separate set of administrative requirements.
If they would fix the problem of consistency and efficiency, they’d find that the issue would take care of itself.
https://www.mynd.co/knowledge-center/do-california-landlords-have-to-accept-section-8#:~:text=Effective%20January%201%2C%202020%2C%20California,they%20have%20a%20housing%20voucher.
Accepting Section 8 Resident ApplicationsEffective January 1, 2020, California implemented two bills which essentially require landlords to accept Section 8 or housing vouchers as an income source from applicants.
Rental property owners cannot discriminate against an applicant or deny the application just because they have a housing voucher. This existed in certain California cities prior to January 1, but now it is a statewide requirement.
Cons of Accepting Section 8 ApplicationsPreviously, it was common for property owners to advertise that they did not participate in Section 8, and wouldn’t consider any residents who had that housing voucher. This was common because participating in the Section 8 program was an administrative burden. There’s a lot of hurdles to cross, including a home inspection, verified habitability, and an approved residency. The delay in getting approved and prepared could cost a lot of money.
Pros of Accepting Section 8 Applications
Most owners weren’t unwilling to accept Section 8 residents; it’s actually a program that many landlords appreciate because it’s a guaranteed source of income. You know the rent will come in every month because it’s coming from a government agency and not an individual.
But for most owners, the Section 8 process simply wasn’t worth their time.
California's property managers, landlords and investors have to stop advertising whether or not they accept Section 8 applicants. You cannot discriminate against anyone with a housing voucher, which means you cannot express that you’d prefer Section 8 applicants didn’t apply. Your printed marketing materials and your online advertising must be reviewed to ensure you are compliant with this new law.
You have to treat all applicants equally.
Section 8 is Considered IncomeMany investors may be wondering why this is now required.
The technical implication is that Section 8 housing vouchers or any of these vouchers that are described must be considered protected sources of income. If you require specific kinds of income from specific sources only, you’re discriminating against potential residents. So, you can no longer opt not to consider a housing voucher as part of an applicant’s income.
Maintain Section 8 ComplianceAs you may have expected, there are some tenants' advocacy groups out there that are already doing some testing by visiting websites and checking application portals. They are making phone calls trying to get property owners to fall into the trap and say they do not accept Section 8 or housing vouchers.
So, we recommend that you be vigilant with your compliance. If you haven’t already removed language like this from your marketing and application materials, you must do so immediately.
There were a number of Oakland rental property owners that were choosing to not participate in Section 8 simply because of the administrative burden and the time constraints in getting the property occupied and rent coming in.
Unfortunately, this legislation does not address or fix the underlying root problem with housing voucher programs. Each one is run by a different housing association with a separate set of administrative requirements.
If they would fix the problem of consistency and efficiency, they’d find that the issue would take care of itself.
Section8, I will call you back about it. 然后就玩消失。
即使你想租给section 8也不一定合格，有很多要求，其中之一是要提供grant deed copy，直接说找不到不就完了?总不能用枪顶着你去County recording office 去复印原件吧?再说了，疫情还没有完，我不想出门，不想去市政府好吧！
我不想租时就直接说，你大爷我没那闲工夫，租你们忒麻烦，还要房检啥的等批准，我大街上随便拉个人就可以住进来。
没说不租给section 8，没犯忌，跟你斗斗咳嗽。
你可以让他递申请，但是告诉他信用分要到达650。现在也不能说有犯罪记录的不租，但是有驱逐记录的你可以不租。总之找理由拒绝，但是不能直接拒绝。
我两年前有次在zillow登广告， 发完发现外面人看不见，就给zillow customer support 发邮件问怎么回事。他说我广告里有不符合fair housing 的 语句， 需要删除。
其实我说的蛮委婉的。 我没说不收section8， 我只是说 this peroperty not affiliate with any government sponsor programs. 就这也给Zillow堵住了。