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FACTSHEETS - Adding Persons to the Household During the First Year of the Lease
To add a person other than a newborn child, the family needs the prior approval of the Housing Authority and the written permission of the landlord.
First, get the landlord's written permission to add the family member. If the landlord does not grant permission in writing, the family member may not move in.If the owner does not give written permission to add the family member, you may want to move. In that case, the owner must provide a written agreement to mutually terminate the lease. If the owner is not willing to release you from the lease and is not willing to add another person to the lease, you must remain in the unit until the first year expires. The new family member is not allowed to move into your unit. The family member may NOT remain in the unit as a "guest" or "visitor". The Housing Authority is not allowed to issue a new Certificate or Voucher simply to allow an addition to the family during the first year of the lease.
If the landlord gives written permission to add the family member, you must then contact your Section 8 Advisor. The Advisor will perform a Special Reexamination of Family Composition and Income to determine your new tenant portion of the rent. All income of the new family member will be counted.
The Housing Authority must also approve adding the new family member to the household. If adding family members will cause overcrowding, or if the family members are not approvable, the addition will not be allowed. Family members may not be approvable if, for example, they were evicted from public housing or terminated from assisted housing; they have recently committed any drug-related or violent criminal activity; they had previously committed fraud, bribery or any other corrupt or criminal act in connection with any federal housing program; they currently owe money to any Housing Authority; they engaged in or threatened abusive or violent behavior to Housing Authority personnel.
If I have a newborn child, what must I do?
You must report the change to your Section 8 Advisor. Unless the landlord requires otherwise, your Advisor may add the newborn to your household by using a lease rider at the time of your next annual reexamination.I want to add another person to my household AND I have lived in my assisted unit for (at least) 1 full year. What do I do?
As previously stated, you must obtain the owner'sWRITTEN permission. Once that is obtained you must contact your Section 8 Advisor and get permission to add this person to your household. The Advisor will perform a Special Reexamination of Family Composition and Income to determine your new tenant portion of the rent. All income of the new family member will be counted. The Housing Authority must approve adding new family members to the household. If doing so would cause overcrowding, or if the family members are not approvable, the addition will not be allowed. If these qualifications are not met, the person may not move in.What if the additional person is approved by all?
After the Special Reexamination to determine the new rent, your Advisor will use either a lease rider or a new lease to add the approved member(s) to your current lease as follows:
If no person except the person(s) who signed the existing lease will be required to sign the new lease, the Advisor will use the HACLA lease rider to add the person(s) to the lease.
If the lease rider is used, no new contract is required as long as there are no additional changes to the terms of the new lease (other than the addition of family members). No new security deposit may be collected. (IF the owner wishes to increase the security deposit, that is a change in the terms of the lease which requires a new contract.)
If the landlord requires that other persons sign the lease, a new lease must be prepared. A new lease (in BOTH the Certificate and Voucher Programs) requires a new contract with the owner. The unit must pass an inspection and the rent must be determined to be reasonable. A new Certificate Contract requires that the unit rent must not exceed the current Fair Market Rent. The new lease must be for at least one year, which means that you will not be able to move for one year from the date the new lease starts.
Disclaimer of Liability:
The information contained in this material is for the sole purpose of providing general information only, and must not be construed as legal advice, or take the place of competent legal counsel. Do not rely on these materials without consulting an attorney concerning your situation. The dissemination of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship and does not seek to represent you based upon your visit or review of this information.
Every effort has been made to ensure the information contained in the material is current. However, the law does change and the general information contained within may become dated. You should seek the advice of legal counsel for specific situations and advice to the "then existing" status of the law.