Landlords

The guaranteed, on time, monthly subsidy payment from BHA is your biggest benefit. You are also protected from financial loss if your tenant suffers unexpected financial hardship. When this happens, the subsidy payment is increased to compensate for your tenant's lower income. BHA can help prevent your vacant apartment or house from remaining empty for too long, because BHA assists a large number of prospective tenants who are qualified for housing subsidy assistance.

If a unit does not meet the Housing Quality Standards, it cannot be an assisted unit in the Section 8 Program.

The HQS consists of:

• Sanitary facilities
• Food preparation and refuse disposal
• Space and security
• Thermal environment
• Illumination and electricity
• Structure and material
• Inferior air quality
• Water supply
• No lead-based paint
• Access
• Site and neighborhood
• Sanitary condition
• Smoke detectors

General Rooms

• Two working electrical outlets
• Rooms are well-lit; free from electrical hazards
• Walls, ceilings and floors are in good condition
• No chipping, peeling or cracked paint

Kitchen

• Adequate space for storage and food preparation
• Plumbing free from leaks and working properly
• Appliances are working

Bathroom

• Operable fan or an opening window
• Shower or bathtub
• Toilet flushes
• Hot and cold water

Bedroom

• Enough bedrooms for the family
• Window for illumination

General Areas

• All windows in good condition; ground floor windows lock and open able and must have window screens
• Smoke detectors
• Hot water heater contains a pressure relief valve with a drain line
• Contains at least 2 exits; Housing and yard are free from trash and debris
• If unit consists of steps or stairs in excess of 36", handrails must be installed

You may contact BHA and inform us that you have an apartment available for rent. We will add your vacant apartments to our landlord list distributed to eligible clients.

You may contact Tracy Thomas by email or by phone at 409-951-7200 for any additional information about the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The program assists low-income families, currently defined as families with an income less than 80% of the median income in Beaumont. BHA takes families from its waiting list, determines the amount of assistance they will receive, and gives them a Voucher. The family must find housing within a certain time limit.

The BHA selects applicants for rental assistance from a waiting list. The BHA reviews the applicant for program eligibility which includes a check to see if the applicant owes any bad debts to other HUD funded programs. Additionally, a criminal background check is performed, and applicants with felony convictions may be determined ineligible. As in the private market, the owner is responsible to screen applicants for suitability as tenants. The selection of an acceptable tenant, whether assisted or not, is limited only by fair housing requirements and theprohibition of discrimination as established by federal and state law.

The Voucher program requires little beyond that which is required by law. BHA will inspect the apartment and make sure that is in compliance with HUD mandated Housing Quality Standards. Once a year, your unit will be reinspected for continued compliance with HQS.

You have the right to ask for a rent that is reasonable and comparable to similar unassisted private market apartments in the same building and neighborhood. BHA may not approve a higher rent for an apartment if similar apartments in the building are charged lower rents or if similar apartments in the neighborhood are charged lower rents.

All families assisted by the Housing Choice Voucher Program must pay 30% of the household's adjusted monthly income as tenant share of monthly rent to the owner. The amount BHA will pay toward the rent is determined by subtracting 30% of the family's adjusted income from the appropriate BHA payment standard.

You have all the rights and responsibilities you have when renting to unassisted tenants. The only additional responsibility you have is to allow the apartment or house to be inspected every year.

Voucher Program tenants have no more or fewer rights and responsibilities than regular tenants, except that they are responsible only for paying a portion of the rent. As with unassisted tenants, any tenant/landlord disputes must be settled independently of the BHA.

Every year, BHA will determine whether the family is still eligible for the program and whether the apartment or house is still in compliance with Housing Quality Standards. If the apartment is no longer in compliance with HQS, the BHA will notify you in writing and you will be given enough time to make the repairs. A change in the family's income or size may result in a change in their share of the rent and subsidy payment.

You may request an increase in the rent annually, in accordance with the lease, but the BHA still has to determine that the requested amount is reasonable in comparison to other market-rate apartments in the same building and to market-rate apartments in the neighborhood.

The lease spells out how much notice you must give your tenant if you want to terminate the tenancy. The procedure for evicting a voucher family is the same as evicting a family that does not have a voucher. You may consult an attorney with questions about evictions. Although you should send BHA copies of the eviction notice, you do not need the BHA's permission to evict a tenant who is in violation of the lease.