Landlords

Landlords

Housing Choice Voucher Program Benefits to Landlords:

Guaranteed monthly assistance payments as long as owner and participant are in compliance with the program requirements
Direct Deposit of assistance payments
You choose who you want to rent to
Annual inspections by HAKC at no cost
Collect a Security deposit (State allowed amount)
Use of your own rental lease

How to Become a Landlord in the Housing Choice Voucher Program

Advertise – local newspaper, yard sign, websites
The HAKC refers participants and applicants looking for units to kcmetrohousing.org and AffordableHousing.com.

Tenant Screening

Screen prospective tenants – the HAKC does not screen a family’s behavior or suitability for tenancy – however you may request in writing the previous rental addresses, landlords name and phone number.

Screening techniques

Past rental history
Review credit history
Perform an on the spot home visit
Review a criminal and eviction background on Casenet.com

Choose a participant and complete the Request for Tenancy Approval form provided by the participant/applicant.

Turn in the Request for Tenancy Approval form to the HAKC.

An affordability determination will be conducted to determine if the participant/applicant can afford to rent the unit at the requested rent. A rent reasonableness determination will be completed to determine if the rent requested is reasonable.

HAKC determines rent reasonableness based on market comparable rents for similar units throughout the Kansas City metro area by using the AffordableHousing.com website. AffordableHousing.com is the largest online rental listing service designed specifically to fulfill the needs of Housing Choice Voucher landlords, tenants, and public housing authorities nationwide. They have an experienced team of Licensed Real Estate Brokers, Real Estate Appraisers, Mortgage Brokers, Web Designers, and Marketing Executives. AffordableHousing.com’s Housing Choice Rental database is the source of information for tenants, landlords, and public housing authorities nationwide.

Reasonable Rent

The following housing factors are to be considered when determining reasonable rent:

Location
Number of Bedrooms
Number of Bathrooms
Housing Type
Utilities (furnished or unfurnished)
Condition of unit
Appliances (Stove and/or Refrigerator)
Parking (Off Street/Garage)
Amenities
Air Conditioning (Window or Central)

Inspections

Inspections Department will call the owner to schedule an initial inspection date and time. If the unit does not pass inspection, the Housing Authority will notify the owner of the deficiencies and the owner must contact the Housing Authority within 30 days to request a re-inspection.

Once the inspection passes, the inspection booklet is given to the assigned Program Specialist who will determine the approval of tenancy and call the owner to determine the beginning date of the lease.

The Housing Assistance Payment Contract will be completed and mailed to the owner for signature. Lease and Contract must be returned to the Housing Authority for execution within 60 days of the effective date, payment will be released when Lease and Contract are received, reviewed, and executed. For further information regarding the program you may contact the Housing Choice Voucher Program office at 816.968.4100.

Housing Assistance Payments

The HAKC makes Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) the first of each month; any retro assistance payments will be paid with the first of the month’s processing. The HAKC is obligated to make payments to the owner of the contracted unit. If an owner has an agreement with a Management Company, the HAKC will require a copy of the Management agreement and will only send correspondence to the Management Company. It is the responsibility of the owner to contact the Housing Authority when there is a change in Management Companies.

The HAKC will set up a direct deposit account, for the deposit of monthly Housing Assistance Payments designated by the owner, not the Management Company. Any changes to the account must be received from the owner at least five (5) business days prior to the first of each month. If payment is made to an account managed by the Management Company and the HA was not notified of a change as stated above, it will be the owners’ responsibility to retrieve the assistance payment from the Management Company. Only one Direct Deposit account will be set up for each owner.

The HAKC provides a website for owners of the program. As a registered owner, you will be able to manage your profile, view all monthly Housing Assistance Payments (HAP), get program updates, and program owner forms.

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