Your Role in Setting a Fair Rent: Owner Obligations in the Reasonableness Process

While the Public Housing Authority (PHA) is responsible for conducting the final Rent Reasonableness determination, the process is a partnership. As a property owner, you have a critical and legally binding role in providing transparent and accurate information. Fulfilling these obligations smoothly is key to a faster lease-up and building a strong, trusted relationship with your local PHA.

These rules aren’t designed to be burdensome; they are in place to ensure fairness and to validate that the rent you propose is aligned with the true market value of your property.

---

The Owner’s Certification: Your Word is Your Bond

Every time you submit a Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) form to the PHA, you are making a formal, legal certification.

By accepting monthly Housing Assistance Payments (HAP), the owner certifies that the “rent to owner” is not more than the rent charged by the owner for comparable, unassisted units on the premises.

This is not a passive checkbox. It is a signed declaration that carries significant weight. You are attesting that you are not charging the Section 8 program more than you would charge a tenant from the open market for a similar unit in the same property.

Providing Data on Your Other Units: The Ultimate Comparison

To verify your certification, the PHA has the right to request information about the rents you charge for other units you own, especially those on the same premises as the unit being considered for the HCV program. This is the most direct and powerful form of comparison available.

According to the program handbook, the owner must provide information requested by the PHA on rents charged for other units. Specifically, for a multifamily project with four or more units, the RFTA form itself asks for information on the three most recently leased, unassisted units in the project.

The PHA may base its entire determination on this information alone, as it provides a perfect apples-to-apples comparison of location, building type, quality, and management.

The Critical Rule of Rent Concessions

This is one of the most important and often misunderstood obligations for owners. If you offer rent concessions or “move-in specials” to unassisted tenants, you must factor those discounts into the rent calculation for an HCV tenant. The “reasonable rent” is based on the actual amount of money you receive over the lease term, not the “face value” rent listed on the lease.

A concession is any special offer that reduces the total amount of rent a tenant pays. Common examples include:

• “One Month Free” rent
• A specific dollar amount credit ($100 off for the first two months)
• Waived fees that are normally charged

The PHA will average the value of the concession over the entire initial lease term (typically 12 months) to determine the actual monthly rent for comparability purposes.

Example from the Handbook:

An owner’s standard rent for a unit is $800 per month. To attract new tenants on the open market, they offer a rent credit (concession) of $100 off for the first two months of a 12-month lease.

Here is how the PHA calculates the reasonable rent:

Calculation Step	Math	Result
Rent for Months 1-2	2 months x $700 ($800 - $100)	$1,400
Rent for Months 3-12	10 months x $800	$8,000
Total Rent Received (12 Months)	$1,400 + $8,000	$9,400
Effective Monthly Rent	$9,400 ÷ 12 months	$783

In this scenario, the maximum reasonable rent the PHA can approve for the HCV family is $783, not the $800 stated on the lease.