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The Housing Choice Voucher Program is a federally funded and locally operated housing subsidy program. The two local organizations that administer the program are the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) and the Allegheny County Housing Authority (ACHA). Participation in HCVP is at the discretion of the property owner and not required by law. There are some overarching advantages and disadvantages to the program:
Advantages:
Consistent rent payment as long as all requirements are met
Broadens pool of possible applicants especially for those who do not meet the 3x income requirement
Disadvantages:
Difficult to communicate with representatives from either Housing Authority
Adds another party to the lease to resolve issues with
Annual inspection process is Housing Authority led coordinated with the tenant but ultimately the owner's responsibility
Tenant approval process is long (up to 4 months) to get someone moved in
Overview of the Application and Move In Process:
Owner agrees to consider accepting HCVP for a given property
Property is listed for rent
Prospective tenant completes the Riva Ridge application. The only change to the standard requirements is that income be just 2x monthly rent; the credit score and background standards still apply.
Property Manager, Owner and Tenant complete the Request for Tenant Authorization (RFTA) form for the appropriate Housing Authority.
Housing Authority will conduct a Housing Quality Survey (HQS) inspection of the property. It will either need to pass or have work done and then be reinspected to move on.
Once the RFTA process and inspection are completed the authority will send out a HUD lease/contract for the property that will need to be signed and submitted back to them (retain a copy of this).
Concurrently, a Riva Ridge lease will need to be completed as well with the addition of the HUD Addendum.
Move in process happens as normal
Things to Know about the HUD/HCVP Lease
Section 1B: the HUD lease renewal term is automatically month to month. All Riva Ridge HCVP tenants should go to a month-to-month Riva Ridge lease after the first year of their contract as well.
Section 4B Rent:
The maximum allowed late fee is $25. This will need to be set on the tenant page in Appfolio.
Rent cannot exceed the contract rent and must be separated between the HACP payment and Tenant payment on the ledger.
Tenants must still pay their portion of rent even if HACP does not due to a failed inspection.
Section 5: Tenant cannot be evicted if HACP does not pay their part of the rent
Section 8 B: HUD Tenancy Addendum must be included on all leases. Already in Appfolio as an attachment similar to the Lead Paint one.
Section 8 C: Must provide notice to the Housing Authority of eviction, legal action, end of lease or any other changes to the tenancy in writing
Section 9A Breaking the Lease: Notice to quit must be posted 10-days prior to filing a Landlord Tenant Complaint.
Section 13: Requires 3 owner inspections each year. This has not been something we have done but worth considering especially prior to the annual HQS inspection
Section 19: have to include sending a copy of any lease renewal to the Housing Authority as well as the tenant more than 60 days out. This can be the email notice to the tenant of the lease renewal offer copied to the Housing Authority.
Where to get additional information:
Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh: https://hacp.org/doing-business/landlord-resources/
Allegheny County Housing Authority: https://www.achsng.com/landlords.asp, https://www.achsng.com/FAQlandlords.asp
Federal Housing and Urban Development site: https://www.hud.gov/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_section_8
Payment Standards to determine rents: https://alcogis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=531501a0fc54461a8a5ff1ac31bada15
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