The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract is between the landlord and DCHA. It is  a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) document and cannot be altered by DCHA or the landlord. The HAP contract list all requirements of the landlord and the rights afforded by the program to the family and landlord.

The landlord must comply with the terms of the HAP contract. That includes:

• maintaining the contract unit and premises in accordance with HUD standards;
• ensuring the contract unit is leased to the subsidized household;
• ensuring the subsidized household does not have any ownership interest in the contract unit and the owner has no family relationship with the subsidized household;
• specifying in the lease which utilities are the responsibility of the landlord or tenant and which appliances are provided by the landlord or tenant;
• charging rent that is reasonable and does not exceed the rent charged for comparable, unsubsidized units in the same market area.

The lease agreement is a legally binding document between the landlord and the participant. DCHA cannot enforce the lease. DCHA requires the lease meets DC laws and will review it to ensure compliance.

The lease must include the names of the owner and tenant; the address of the unit rented; the dates the lease term begins and ends; and the amount of monthly contract rent. The lease must specify which utilities are the responsible of the owner or tenant and which appliances are provided by the owner or tenant. All provisions in the HUD Tenancy Addendum must be added word-for-word to the lease.

The landlord must provide the amenities and housing services, such as heating, maintenance or trash collection, and any utilities that are the landlord’s responsibility, like water, as described in the lease.

Landlords are responsible for providing information to DCHA to confirm that they and their unit(s) are eligible for a voucher or rental assistance program, and the unit is rented to a tenant subsidized by DCHA.

This includes documents demonstrating proof of property ownership, a W-9 tax form, and a lease agreement, among others. All information provided to DCHA must be true and complete.

Landlords must comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations that govern landlord-tenant relationships and unit habitability, including but not limited to the Fair Housing Act, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), DC Human Rights Act, DC Housing Codes and the DC Tenant Bill of Rights.

The landlord must maintain the unit in accordance with HUD’s standards.

The landlord must not violate the terms of any HAP contract with any public housing authority; must not have a history or practice of renting units that fail to meet state or local housing codes; and must not have outstanding state or local real estate taxes, fines or assessments.

The rent charged for the subsidized-unit is comparable to the rent charged for a similar, unassisted units.

The landlord is not receiving any additional payments outside of the monthly contract rent, as defined in the lease and HAP contract. The tenant must not have an ownership interest in the subsidized unit and must not have a familial relationship (parent, child, grandparent, grandchild or sibling) with the unit owner.

The landlord must maintain the unit and premises in accordance with HUD’s standards, including providing any utilities in compliance with those standards.

Before a lease agreement or HAP contract is executed, the landlord must provide DCHA with access to perform an Initial Inspection to confirm the unit meets HUD’s standards and is approved for the subsidized tenant to move in. Additional inspections must take place once per year or once every other year, as required by  HUD, to confirm the unit is safe and continues to meet HUD’s standards.  Other inspections – including Special Inspections – may occur by request.

If any deficiencies are found in the inspection that are the landlord’s responsibility, the landlord must resolve those deficiencies in accordance with the HAP contract and HUD standards.

For more information about inspections, visit the Current Landlords webpage.

The landlord must notify DCHA in writing prior to a change in legal ownership of the unit. The former owner and new owner must supply all information as requested by DCHA; the new owner must be qualified to be a landlord under federal, state and local regulations; and the new owner must agree to be bound by and comply with the HAP contract. The former owner may not assign the HAP contract to a new owner without the prior written consent of DCHA.

Landlords must not commit fraud, bribery, or any other corrupt or criminal act in connection with any federal housing assistance program, a mortgage insured by HUD or a loan made by HUD.  They must not engage in drug-related criminal activity or violent criminal activity.