How to use a Section 8 voucher to rent a home

After approval: the briefing

Before the agency issues your voucher, you attend a briefing (in person, online, or recorded). It must cover how the program works, your obligations, how to find a unit, and your rights. You should leave with a packet that includes:

• The voucher itself, with its bedroom size, issue date, and expiration date
• The agency’s payment standards and utility allowance schedule
• A Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA, form HUD-52517) and instructions
• A copy of the HUD tenancy addendum and a sample HAP contract
• Information on portability (moving to another agency’s area)
• The fair-housing complaint form and information on where to get help
• A list of landlords or other resources, if the agency maintains one

Ask the housing specialist before you leave: What is the maximum gross rent I can afford for each bedroom size? Which utilities count? How do I submit an RFTA, and how long does the agency take to inspect?

Understand your voucher size

Your voucher size comes from the agency’s subsidy standards, which usually allow about two people per bedroom but consider age, sex, relationships, and medical needs. You may rent a unit larger than your voucher size (the payment standard stays at your voucher size) or smaller (the payment standard drops to the unit’s size, and the unit must meet space standards). If a household member needs an extra bedroom because of a disability—for example, for a live-in aide or medical equipment—request it as a reasonable accommodation.

Know your search deadline

• The voucher term is at least 60 days; agencies often choose 90 or 120.
• Suspension: when you submit an RFTA, the clock stops until the agency approves or denies it. If the unit falls through, you get those days back.
• Extensions are granted under the agency’s policy. Some require a written log of units contacted.
• If you are moving under portability, the receiving agency issues its own voucher, and its term must expire at least 30 days after the initial agency’s voucher would have expired.

Build a realistic budget before you look

For each bedroom size, estimate:

• The payment standard for that size and location
• The utility allowance for the utilities you would pay in that type of building
• Your likely total tenant payment (about 30% of adjusted income)
• The 40% ceiling at move-in: your family share cannot exceed 40% of monthly adjusted income

A quick rule: if contract rent plus utility allowance is at or below the payment standard, the unit is usually affordable under the formula (the agency still has to find the rent reasonable). If it is above, calculate carefully using our rent calculation guide.

Search strategically

Voucher searches fail most often because time runs out, not because units do not exist. What helps:

• Search everywhere the voucher can be used, including suburbs and neighborhoods with Small Area Fair Market Rents, where payment standards may be higher.
• Ask directly and early whether the owner accepts Housing Choice Vouchers.
• Know your local law. In places with source-of-income protections, “No Section 8” ads and refusals may be illegal.
• Check properties that must accept vouchers, such as most Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments.
• Use the agency’s landlord list and any housing-navigation or mobility counseling program.
• Keep a search log: address, date, contact, rent, and the owner’s response. It supports extension requests and discrimination complaints.

See how to find landlords that accept Section 8 for scripts and more sources.

Applying with the owner

Voucher holders still go through the owner’s ordinary screening. Owners may consider rental history, references, and their standard criteria, but they must apply them consistently. HUD encourages agencies to share only certain information about you with owners; the owner is responsible for screening for suitability.

Watch for these rules:

• Application fees are governed by state law, not HUD. Ask for the fee and screening criteria in writing.
• Security deposits are allowed. The agency may prohibit a deposit higher than what the owner charges unassisted tenants. Some agencies and local programs offer deposit assistance.
• Credit and income tests. Some jurisdictions prohibit minimum-income requirements that ignore the voucher portion of the rent. Where no such rule exists, ask the owner to calculate income requirements based only on your share.

The Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA)

When an owner agrees, you and the owner complete the RFTA packet and return it to the agency with the proposed lease (or the owner’s standard lease form). The packet shows the proposed rent, the date the unit will be available, which utilities and appliances are supplied by whom, the year the building was built (for lead-paint rules), and owner information.

The agency then:

1. Confirms the unit type and lease terms are eligible.
2. Determines rent reasonableness compared with similar unassisted units.
3. Checks that your family share is within the 40% limit.
4. Schedules an inspection.
5. Verifies the owner is not debarred and not a prohibited relative.

If the rent is too high, the agency may negotiate with the owner. You can ask the agency what rent would be approvable.

The inspection

Every assisted unit must meet the program’s inspection requirements; limited PHA-approved exceptions can allow assistance before all non-life-threatening repairs are completed. HUD is replacing the older Housing Quality Standards with NSPIRE standards for vouchers; agencies must comply by February 1, 2027 under HUD’s current timeline. Typical failures include missing smoke or carbon-monoxide alarms, peeling paint in pre-1978 homes, inoperable windows, electrical hazards, and missing heat. Agencies may allow assistance to begin when only non-life-threatening deficiencies remain, if their plan allows it, with a deadline for repairs. See our inspection guide.

Lease, tenancy addendum, and HAP contract

When the unit passes, three documents come together:

• The lease between you and the owner. The initial term is generally at least one year unless the agency approves a shorter term.
• The HUD tenancy addendum, which the owner must attach to the lease. If the lease conflicts with the addendum, the addendum controls.
• The HAP contract between the owner and the agency. It must be signed no later than 60 days after the lease starts; if not, the agency cannot pay.

Get written confirmation of the approved contract rent, your portion, and the effective date before you hand over keys, move belongings, or pay rent.

Never agree to pay more than your approved share. Extra “side payments” to the owner violate program rules and can cost you your voucher.

After you move in

As a participant you must follow the family obligations in 24 CFR 982.551, including:

• Pay your share of rent and any utilities you are responsible for
• Allow inspections and fix damage caused by your household beyond normal wear
• Report income and household changes on time and complete annual reexaminations
• Use the unit as your only residence and get approval before adding anyone
• Notify the agency and owner before moving out
• Not engage in fraud, drug-related or violent criminal activity, or sublet the unit

Keep copies of the lease, HAP start letter, every rent notice, and every recertification. See reporting changes and recertification and how to protect your voucher.

If time is running out

1. Contact the agency before the voucher expires. Ask for its extension policy and form.
2. Submit your search log showing units contacted and responses.
3. Ask for a reasonable accommodation if a disability limits your search—for example, you need an accessible unit, more time, or a higher payment standard (up to 120% of FMR can be approved as an accommodation).
4. Ask about a higher payment standard or search in areas where the standard is higher.
5. Report discrimination. If owners refused because of your voucher where that is illegal, or because of race, disability, family status, or another protected characteristic, file a complaint and tell the agency.

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