The HAP contract (Housing Assistance Payments contract) is the agreement between a landlord and the public housing authority in the voucher program. Under it, the authority pays its portion of the rent — the housing assistance payment — directly to the landlord each month, while the tenant pays their income-based portion under the lease. The HAP contract sets the program's terms: the approved rent, the unit, the landlord's obligations (including maintaining the unit to inspection standards), and the authority's payment duties. The lease is with the tenant; the HAP contract is with the authority. Both govern the tenancy.
The formula / structureTotal Rent = Tenant Portion (income-based, commonly around 30% of adjusted income) + HAP Payment (the balance, paid by the authority)
HAP Contract: a worked example
Worked example. Approved rent $1,635. The tenant's portion, set by their income, is $486. The HAP payment is $1,635 − $486 = $1,149, deposited by the housing authority monthly. The landlord's total is the full $1,635 — received from two payers under two documents.
What affects HAP Contract
- Tenant income (sets the split, not the total)
- Payment standard and rent reasonableness (set the total)
- Inspection compliance — HAP payments depend on the unit meeting standards
- PHA procedures and payment cycles
Get the Section 8 Standards Snapshot — free.
The current payment standards for your market, by bedroom count — the numbers your rent has to fit.
Go deeper
- GuideThe Section 8 Landlord Guide
- CalculatorRent Estimator
- Topic hubSection 8 & Rentals
- TermPayment Standard — The housing authority's maximum subsidy level for a unit size — the effective rent ceiling in the voucher program.
- TermNSPIRE — HUD's inspection standard for assisted housing — the health-and-safety checklist a voucher unit must pass.
- TermFMR — Fair Market Rent — HUD's published rent benchmark for an area, by bedroom count.