What does the Section 8 tenancy addendum change in your lease?
When you rent to a Housing Choice Voucher holder, your lease must include HUD's tenancy addendum word for word, and where it conflicts with your lease, the addendum wins. It bars rent increases during the first term, limits what you may charge, lists the only grounds to end the tenancy during the lease, and requires you to send the housing authority a copy of any eviction notice.
What the addendum is
The voucher program uses one HUD form, the Housing Assistance Payments Contract, form HUD-52641 (version 4/2023). Part A holds the details, Part B the contract terms between you and the housing authority, and Part C is the tenancy addendum. The form's instructions say the HAP contract must be word for word as HUD prescribes, and Part B says your lease must include all of Part C word for word. The tenant may enforce the addendum against you.
You keep your own lease for everything the addendum does not cover, such as rules, parking and maintenance requests. The practical job is knowing which of your usual clauses stop working.
Your lease clause versus the addendum
| If your lease says | The addendum says |
|---|---|
| Rent may rise at any time with notice | No increase during the initial term; later changes follow your lease, but rent may never exceed the housing authority's reasonable rent or what you charge for comparable unassisted units |
| Tenant pays all rent to you | The housing authority's payment is credited against the rent; the tenant owes only the rest and is not in default if the housing authority pays late |
| Extra fees for amenities | No extra charges for items customarily included in rent locally or given free to unassisted tenants; no required charges for meals, services or furniture |
| Tenant may add occupants with your consent | Household changes need approval of both you and the housing authority, apart from births, adoptions and court-awarded custody, which the family reports |
| Sublets allowed with consent | No subleasing and no assignment |
| Either side may end at the end of any term | During the lease, only the listed grounds; see below |
The initial lease term must be at least one year, according to the form's instructions, unless the housing authority approves a shorter term because it improves the family's housing chances and is the local market practice.
The only grounds to end the tenancy during the lease
Section 8 of Part C says that during the initial term or any extension you may end the tenancy only for:
- Serious or repeated violation of the lease.
- Violation of a law that sets the tenant's duties in using the unit.
- Listed criminal activity by a household member, guest or other person under the tenant's control, or alcohol abuse that threatens other residents.
- Other good cause.
During the initial term, other good cause must be something the family did or failed to do, such as disturbing neighbors or damaging property. After the initial term it can include the tenant refusing your offer of a new lease, your wish to use the unit yourself or stop renting it, or a business or economic reason such as a sale, a renovation or wanting a higher rent. The addendum says these examples do not override state or local laws to the contrary, so a just cause law where you are may still narrow them.
Notices and eviction
- You may evict only through a court action.
- At or before the start of the case you must give the tenant a notice stating the grounds. It may be combined with your state's eviction notice.
- You must give the housing authority a copy of any eviction notice at the same time you give it to the tenant. A notice to vacate, a complaint or other first court paper all count.
- If the HAP contract ends for any reason, or the housing authority ends the family's assistance, the lease ends automatically.
- The tenant must tell both you and the housing authority before moving out.
Example a made-up owner rents a unit for $1,300, of which the housing authority pays $800 and the tenant $500. The tenant misses two months of her $500 portion. Unpaid tenant rent is a serious lease violation, so the owner serves the state's notice for the $1,000 the tenant owes, not the $2,600 total, and emails a copy to the housing authority the same day. The housing authority's $800 a month is not the tenant's debt.
Deposits and safety protections
You may collect a security deposit, though the housing authority can cap it at private market practice or at what you charge unassisted tenants, and that cap must be written into the contract. At move-out you may use the deposit for unpaid rent, damage and other amounts owed under the lease, subject to state law, and you must give the tenant a list of each item and amount and promptly refund the rest.
Section 9 adds the Violence Against Women Act protections: no eviction because a tenant is a victim, the right to remove only the abuser from the lease, and strict confidentiality. Our domestic violence lease guide covers how these fit with state law.
How DoorKeeping handles it
DoorKeeping keeps the signed lease, the addendum and the HAP contract in the property's documents, and each unit's ledger shows the housing authority payment and the tenant portion as separate lines, so a notice can state only what the tenant owes. Any notice or rent change waits for your one-tap approval. DoorKeeping gives no legal advice; your housing authority can answer questions about its own rules.
Sources
Questions
- Can I raise the rent on a Section 8 tenant?
- Not during the initial lease term. After it, changes follow your lease, but the rent may never exceed the housing authority's reasonable rent or what you charge for comparable unassisted units.
- Can I evict a voucher tenant when the housing authority pays late?
- No. The addendum says a late or missed housing authority payment is not a lease violation by the tenant, and you may not end the tenancy for it.
- Do I have to tell the housing authority about an eviction?
- Yes. Give the housing authority a copy of any eviction notice, including a notice to vacate or the complaint, at the same time you give it to the tenant.