I bought my first rental property seven years ago. When I was unable to get it rented those first couple of months, I started to panic, and then my property manager asked if I’d consider renting to a tenant who participated in a government-subsidized program such as Section 8.

Section 8 (aka the Housing Choice Voucher Program) is a type of federal assistance provided by HUD that helps provide subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals.

My first tenant ended up being a Section 8 tenant and lived in the property for nearly five years. She was never late paying her portion of the rent, and of course, the government was never late paying its portion (which happened to be two-thirds of the total). I never had one complaint the entire time she lived there. The single-family home was a new construction, so the only issue was minor ongoing repairs.

During that time, I purchased two more properties. These rentals had tenants that were not Section 8, and as the economy worsened. It was a challenge keeping these rented.

One guy just abandoned the property when he still had at least four months left on his lease. Every time a tenant moves out, I spend money making the place rent-ready. It’s amazing what people can do to a house in just one year (some less). Plus, an empty rental property is costly in terms of lost rent.

That first property now has another Section 8 tenant – she’s been there almost a year. Again, no problems! And I just rented a second property to a Section 8 tenant. I’m convinced this is the way to go for long-term, solid renters for five reasons:

There seems to be a large supply of people in these programs who are looking for good housing. My property manager lists the property as a Section 8 qualified rental and the tenant finds me. Typically, this happens more quickly than if I had to advertise to find a tenant.

With Section 8 tenants, a good portion of the rent is taken care of by the government. So even if the tenant can’t pay his or her portion, you are guaranteed the amount from the government. You might think Section 8 tenants would often fail to come up with their portion of the rent. But it’s never happened to me. Remember, it’s a voucher program. Tenants who don’t pay risk losing their voucher. So, in my experience, they always do. By the way, all of my Section 8 tenants have been employed. They’re likely on assistance because they have a low-paying job and young, dependent children.

My first Section 8 tenant stayed for five years. Moving is expensive, so they stay longer than other tenants. Also, I’ve never had to evict a Section 8 tenant.

Section 8 tenants find their own place and use the voucher to pay. The homes are not part of a public housing development, which means the neighborhood is typically safer and provides access to better schools.

As a landlord, I’m part of a system that seems to do some good. That’s not a bad business venture to be a part of, although one of the disadvantages is that the government will decide the “fair market” rate, so you cannot set the rent. This amount has always been in the range of what I would charge if I had set the amount myself.