Rent regulation & tenants
Housing choice voucher (HCV)
Tenant-based Section 8 assistance under 24 C.F.R. Part 982: a PHA pays owners the subsidy share under a HAP contract, subject to inspections and rent tests.
Definition
The housing choice voucher is tenant-based Section 8: a subsidy that travels with the household, administered by a public housing authority under 24 C.F.R. Part 982 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(o). The owner leases to the tenant normally, signs a housing assistance payments (HAP) contract with the PHA, and receives the subsidy share directly; the tenant pays the balance, generally around 30% of adjusted income.
Assistance starts only after the PHA approves the tenancy: a rent-reasonableness test, a payment standard set off HUD Fair Market Rents, and a passed initial inspection — now on HUD's NSPIRE standard — all precede HAP execution, with periodic reinspections after.
Why it matters in an underwrite
Voucher tenancies trade rent ceiling for collections durability: the PHA share arrives monthly regardless of household shocks, but collectible rent is bounded by rent reasonableness and the payment standard, and uncorrected inspection deficiencies abate the subsidy entirely until cured. Model longer make-ready-to-move-in lags (the approval sequence runs on the agency's queue), carry an inspection-prep line in opex, and never underwrite street rent on voucher units without pulling the PHA's current standards.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
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Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.