Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers

Information for Rental Property Owners/Managers

The GRHC will host an information-packed Landlord Forum on Thursday, February 20. The event will include a full-service “Help Booth” to address outstanding items.
Click here for Landlord Forum details and agenda

GRHC Invites Ottawa County Landlords to Participate in Our Program!

The GRHC recently extended our service area to include Ottawa County, which means GRHC Housing Choice Voucher program participants can now rent a unit in either Kent or Ottawa counties.

View maximum monthly rents for units in Kent County

View maximum monthly rents for units in Ottawa County


How the Housing Choice Voucher Program Works

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program provides rental subsidies to lower-income families that meet federally established income guidelines. Program participants locate rental housing and use the voucher they receive from the Grand Rapids Housing Commission (GRHC) to help pay the rent. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

When a family finds a suitable rental unit and the property owner agrees to participate in the HCV Program, the family submits the following to the GRHC:

After the GRHC receives the above materials, our staff inspects the rental unit to ensure that it meets HUD Housing Quality Standards. There is no charge to the property owner or tenant for this inspection.

If the GRHC approves the unit and the lease, we will notify the family and the property owner, and we will furnish a HUD Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract to the owner. The owner must sign the HAP contract and return it to the GRHC.


View a video introduction to the Housing Choice Voucher Program

City Postpones Implementation of Lead-Based Paint Requirements for Rental Certification Until April 1

In mid-December, the Grand Rapids City Commission postponed the Property Maintenance Code amendments requiring lead-dust sampling as a part of rental certification until April 1, 2024; the requirements were originally scheduled to be in force beginning January 1, 2024.

View a City of Grand Rapids announcement regarding this change


Property Owner Responsibilities

Rental property owners who participate in the GRHC’s Section 8 program must...

  • Screen and select tenants.
  • Provide a lease that conforms to all state and local laws as well as to the Housing Choice Voucher program’s HAP contract.
  • Maintain the rental unit in compliance with HUD Housing Quality Standards.
  • Collect the tenant’s portion of the rent. The GRHC pays the subsidized portion of the monthly rent directly to the owner—generally this is the difference between a predetermined payment standard and 30 percent of the tenant’s adjusted monthly household income.
  • Comply with all requirements of the HAP contract and lease. The terms of a lease cannot be changed without the GRHC’s written acknowledgement.

Per federal requirements, property rented to Housing Choice Voucher program participants is periodically reinspected by the GRHC.

It is illegal for property owners to discriminate based on prospective tenants’ age, race, sex, religion, disability or national origin. It is also illegal to deny tenancy based on the fact that a household has a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher subsidy.

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