Learn how to rent your unit to low-income families participating in the HPHA's Housing Choice Voucher Program.
If you own a rental unit on the island of Oahu, you are welcomed and encouraged to participate in the HPHA's Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. As a participating landlord, you can expect to receive a guaranteed portion of the rent payment from the HPHA each month. Your unit will also receive free inspections on a regular basis that ensure your unit meets all federal and county occupancy standards. Most of important of all, you will have the opportunity to help low-income families find an affordable place to call home.
Participation in the program is limited to low-income families and individuals. The HPHA determines your eligibility based on annual gross income; whether an applicant qualifies as elderly, a person with a disability, or as a family; and U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status.
The HPHA uses income limits developed by HUD. Low-income families are defined by HUD as earning 50% or less of the median income for a given county or metropolitan area. To view the latest HUD-established income limits, click here.
The HPHA will calculate the maximum amount of rental subsidy that can be provided for a voucher family's dwelling unit. This amounts is generally the lesser of the payment standard minus 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income, or the gross rent of the dwelling unit minus 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income. The HPHA establishes payment standards by zip codes. The asking rent for the dwelling unit must also be determined to be reasonable when compared to other unassisted units in the same area.
The landlord is responsible for providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing to a tenant at a reasonable rent. The dwelling unit must pass the program's inspection standards and be maintained up to those standards for as long as the landlord receives housing assistance payments. Additionally, the landlord is expected to provide services agreed to as part of the lease signed with the tenant and the contract signed with the HPHA.
A family receiving voucher assistance should be screened in the same way you would screen any other tenant before entering into a lease agreement.
When a family is issued a voucher, they receive a packet of forms which includes the HUD-approved Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) form that must be signed by a prospective landlord. Be prepared to receive this packet from a tenant. You should complete, sign, and date each of the necessary forms as soon as possible. You may send the completed forms to the HPHA by mail or deliver it in person during regular business hours at the address below:
Attn: New Move-In
Section 8 Subsidy Programs Branch
1002 North School Street, Building A
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
Once the HPHA receives the RFTA packet back, it will be checked to make sure all information included is complete and accurate. The asking rent for the unit must also pass two tests:
If the asking rent does not pass either test, you may be asked to negotiate a lower rent amount. You are never required to lower the asking rent, but if you do not agree to a rent amount that meets both requirements, the tenant must find another unit.
If the asking rent is affordable and reasonable, the HPHA will contact you to schedule an inspection of the unit. The purpose of the inspection is to ensure the unit is decent, safe, and sanitary. A landlord or an authorized representative must attend the initial inspection. An HPHA inspector may find deficiencies that must be fixed before the unit can receive rental assistance.
After a unit passes inspection, the HPHA will send you a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract and the HUD-approved Tenancy Addendum. You must sign the HAP contract, sign the lease and the Tenancy Addendum with the tenant, and return all signed documents to the HPHA. You will receive your first payment after all paperwork is received. Your first payment will be prorated to the date the unit passed inspection. Subsequent payments will arrive on the first of every month.
