Your rights as a Section 8 tenant: leases, repairs, evictions, and rent increases

By the Section 8 Compass editorial team · Updated December 1, 2025

Once you have a voucher and a unit, you are still a regular tenant under your state’s landlord-tenant law — but you also have an extra layer of HUD-specific protections that override anything weaker in your lease. Knowing what those protections are is the difference between a smooth tenancy and a panicked move when something goes wrong.

Your lease: what HUD requires

HUD requires every lease used with a voucher to be at least one year long for the initial term, and to use the same form the landlord uses for unassisted tenants. The lease must also include a HUD Tenancy Addendum, a federally drafted set of clauses that override anything in the lease that conflicts. Among other things, the addendum:

Prohibits the landlord from charging you more than your tenant rent share.
Prohibits side payments outside the lease (including for furniture or amenities).
Restricts the reasons the landlord can terminate the lease.
Requires written notice for non-renewal at the end of the initial term.

If anything in your lease conflicts with the addendum, the addendum wins. Keep a copy of both.

Repairs and habitability

HUD’s Housing Quality Standards apply for the entire time you live in the unit, not just at move-in. The PHA inspects annually and any time you or the landlord requests it. The most common HQS issues:

Non-working smoke detectors or carbon monoxide alarms.
Heat that doesn’t reach safe minimum temperatures.
Hot and cold running water.
Working toilets, sinks, and bathing fixtures.
Electrical hazards (exposed wiring, broken outlets).
Pest infestations.
Lead-based paint hazards in pre-1978 buildings if children under 6 live there.

If the landlord doesn’t fix a serious HQS issue within the deadline the PHA gives them, the PHA stops paying the subsidy. You don’t lose your voucher; you may need to move. Always document repair requests in writing.

Rent increases

The landlord can request a rent increase at the end of the initial lease term, with at least 60 days’ written notice (your local law may require longer). The PHA reviews the proposed new rent for “reasonableness” based on comparable unassisted units in the area. If the PHA approves, the increase takes effect; if they don’t, the landlord can negotiate or non-renew.

An increase doesn’t mean your share goes up automatically. The PHA recalculates the split between your share and theirs based on the local payment standard. In some cases, your share won’t change at all.

Lease termination by the landlord

HUD restricts the reasons a landlord can terminate during the initial year. After the first year, the landlord can non-renew at the end of any subsequent term with proper written notice, but only for “good cause.” Good cause includes:

Serious or repeated lease violations (non-payment of your share, unauthorized residents, drug or violent activity).
Material non-compliance with HUD program rules.
Other good cause defined by state or local law.

A landlord cannot non-renew because they decided to stop participating in the voucher program mid-year. They can decide not to renew at the next term, but they must give written notice and follow your state’s timeline.

Eviction protections

If a landlord files for eviction, you are still entitled to all the protections of your state’s eviction process — written notice, time to cure non-payment, a court hearing, and the right to a defense. On top of that, the HUD Tenancy Addendum gives you specific defenses:

The landlord must show good cause.
The landlord cannot evict in retaliation for requesting repairs.
The landlord cannot evict you for activity that did not occur in or near the unit.

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) also applies. If the eviction is based on activity related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, you have additional rights including an emergency lease bifurcation and possible voucher portability to a safer location.

Your share goes up: what to do

If your income changes and your rent share goes up beyond what you can cover, request an interim recertification. PHAs can sometimes adjust mid-year. You can also discuss a repayment agreement if you have unpaid rent, capped at a portion of your adjusted income.

Moving out by choice

After the initial lease year, you can move with your voucher. You give the landlord proper written notice (usually 30 days), notify the PHA in writing, get a new voucher search packet, and start the process over. If you want to move during the first year, you generally need the landlord to release you from the lease and the PHA to approve.

If something goes wrong

Repair issue ignored: document in writing, copy the PHA, request an HQS inspection.
Eviction notice: contact your local legal aid office immediately. Most cities have free tenant lawyers for low-income residents.
Landlord asking for side payments: report to the PHA. This is a serious program violation.
Discrimination: file a complaint with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) within one year.

Bottom line

You are a tenant first, a voucher holder second — and both layers of law are on your side. Document everything in writing, save every piece of paper from the PHA and the landlord, and ask for help early when something goes wrong.