Voucher eligibility, found in every AffordableHousing.com premium pre-screening application, is determined by calculating the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The HAP is based on several factors, including family income, family size, and local housing agency payment standards (or local market conditions), the cost of utilities, your requested rent and more.  

Below is a step-by-step explanation of how AffordableHousing.com displays HAP and Section 8 Voucher eligibility in the pre-screening application: 

Voucher Status: The pre-screening application clearly lets you know when an applicant has a section 8 voucher. A section 8 logo will only appear next to applicants with vouchers.

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Voucher Size: Section 8 vouchers are bedroom specific. The voucher size represents the number of bedrooms the applicant is eligible for. In some circumstances a voucher holder can rent a property with more bedrooms than their allotted voucher size. However, the reverse is rarely true.  The applicant’s renter score will take these factors into consideration.  If an applicant is not eligible for your property because of a voucher/bedroom size mismatch, they will have a significantly lower renter score.  

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Eligibility Determination: pre-screening applications use simple red, yellow, and green color codes to represent whether or not a voucher holder meets the necessary section 8 eligibility requirements to rent your property.  It is important to note that eligibility requirements do not apply to lease renewals, they are relevant only to new leases. 

1. Green: your requested rent is below the maximum allowable rent for the applicant
2. Yellow: your requested rent is within 10% of the maximum allowable rent for the applicant
3. Red: your requested rent is greater than 10% of the maximum allowable rent for the applicant 

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Who Pays How Much: this section breaks down the Housing Agency's portion of the rent versus the prospective tenant’s portion of the rent.  These amounts use your listings’ asking rent and information provided in the pre-screening application to determine the HAP, so they may vary from property to property and from applicant to applicant.  

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Trying to understand if a voucher holder is eligible to lease your property can be a confusing and cumbersome process. Making this determination early in the leasing process is critical to saving owners time and headaches.