Section 8 Housing: Is It a Good Investment?

The economy is in shaky territory, but the rental markets in Scarsdale and Edgemont continue to be hot.

During economic difficulties, more and more people rely on the help of Section 8 to help pay for housing. It is often a misunderstood program, and recipients often have a difficult time finding landlords who accept it.

Section 8 was originally enacted in 1937, and authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of its users.

Renters who need financial assistance to meet their monthly rent payments seek help through one of three housing programs. It is not considered emergency assistance, so many participants can wait months, or sometimes even years before they receive assistance.

There are 17 Section 8 program offices in Westchester County. Each office is an independent program with its own waiting list for assistance, program guidelines and areas of assistance.

The Town of Eastchester operates a federally funded Housing Choice Voucher Program consisting of 255 vouchers. The program operates within the Town of Eastchester, including the Villages of Tuckahoe and Bronxville. A waiting list is maintained since the number of applications is usually higher than the available allotment.

The housing choice voucher program is the federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market. Since housing assistance is provided on behalf of the family or individual, participants must find their own housing.

While participants are free to choose any housing that meets the requirement of the program, landlords in Westchester must be willing to accept Section 8. The law does not currently require all landlords to accept Section 8 — a requirement HUD is currently looking to change under the new Fair Housing Agreement with Westchester. Astorino has been fighting this change in law.

Westchester County District 3 Legislator John Nonna stated, “I find Astorino’s comments very troubling and ambiguous, given that we have fashioned a law that strikes a fair balance between the needs of tenants who receive government assistance to pay a portion of their rent and the objections and concerns of landlords regarding their right and ability to choose appropriate tenants.” 

New York City renting laws have recently changed, and landlords there cannot discriminate against tenants solely on the basis of their use of Section 8.

Any landlord in Westchester must currently agree to rent to a participant of the program. These rental units must then be inspected by someone from the housing department and must meet minimum standards of health and safety. Many landlords complain about this process. One Westchester landlord said, “I was willing to rent to someone who had Section 8. They sent someone to inspect, but they wanted me to change all the lighting in the apartment. I can’t afford to do that.”

Section 8 requires that rental units be inspected once a year. If this rule is not complied to, the tenant will lose their voucher. They will then be responsible for the entire amount of rent.

Section 8 is also not in charge of paying security deposits. Those must be paid by the tenants.

On many occasions, landlords like renting to tenants who utilize Section 8. All rent payments are sent directly to the landlord by the program. Unlike renting to others, leasing to participants of Section 8 means the funds are guaranteed, and direct deposit is available as well.

In some instances, the portion of Section 8 funding that landlords receive is not enough to cover the entire rent, and the tenants pay the remaining amount- usually around 30 percent of their income.

Many landlords do background and credit checks on tenants, and it's fine to do that for Section 8 tenants. However, landlords should not expect these tenants to have good credit because anyone on Section 8 is going to have little to no income.

In the end, renting to Section 8 is still up to the landlord in Westchester County — for now. For many, it is a worthwhile investment.