A Request for Tenancy Approval is the owner packet that tells your PHA a voucher holder wants your unit. Until that packet is in, nothing else starts. No inspection date. No rent reasonableness. No Housing Assistance Payment.

I run the file from a laptop. Your realtor walks the unit and handles keys. Your contractor does make-ready. You own the packet.

Pull the form your PHA actually uses. HUD Form 52517 is the federal base. Many agencies wrap it in a portal or add a local landlord checklist. Download both. If the family already has a packet from briefing, use that copy. A blank from the wrong agency gets bounced.

Fill the unit block before you touch rent. Street address must match the deed and the lease, including unit number. Bedroom count is what the unit is, not what the ad said. Year built matters. Pre-1978 triggers a lead disclosure. Leave it off and the file stalls before anyone looks at the house.

Proposed rent is the contract rent you want the HAP contract to lock. It is not a wish and not the payment standard. Match it to three things on the same page: the draft lease, the utility chart, and what a cash tenant would pay for a similar unit in your market. Rent reasonableness is the PHA check that your ask is not above unassisted comps. If you own more than four units in the same project, the form asks for three recent unassisted rents in that project. Most first doors skip that box. Do not invent comps to fill it.

The utility grid is where remote files die. Mark O for owner-paid and T for tenant-paid on every line: heat, water, electric, trash, stove, fridge. The default if you leave it blank is that you pay the utilities and provide the appliances. That is rarely what you underwrote. Your PHA’s utility allowance is what they subtract when the tenant pays a bill. A wrong T turns a deal you thought worked into a tenant portion nobody can cover.

Lease and form have to say the same numbers. Requested start date, deposit, rent, who pays what. Attach the proposed lease with the HUD tenancy addendum pasted in word for word. The addendum overrides your lease where they conflict. A missing addendum is a reject, not a note.

Owner side of the packet, from wherever you sit:

  • Signed 52517, including the owner certifications. You certify the rent story, that you screened the family yourself, and that the PHA did not.
  • W-9 and the direct-deposit form your PHA uses. HAP does not start on a personal check.
  • Proof you own it. Recorded deed or current tax bill. Entity name must match the W-9.
  • Lead disclosure and pamphlet acknowledgment if the house is pre-1978.
  • Any local owner form. Some want a voided check. Some want an email authorization. Ask once, in writing.

Do not send the family to drop a half packet. You submit, or your realtor drops the paper set if that PHA still wants wet ink. Email or portal is the default. Subject line: owner name, address, voucher holder last name, RFTA. One PDF, not twelve attachments.

Then stop refreshing. Reply the same day if they kick it back for a missing page. A clean first submit is how you protect the voucher clock without sitting in the PHA lobby.

Actionable Takeaway: Email your PHA landlord desk today and ask for the RFTA checklist and the exact submit method (portal, email, or paper). Save that reply as the cover sheet of the packet.