I live in Aurora but did Section 8 in Denver for about 7 years when my husband and I first got our rentals.
I can give you my own take on this just from being a Section 8 landlord myself. First of all, yes, there is a need for landlords, a huge shortage, especially in places like Denver. This is kind of sad, because it really would be a great benefit for those poorer persons who need sustainable housing.
I stopped doing section 8 because of many reasons, and the most important being that Section 8 is a royal pain in the ass to deal with as a landlord. I think if they made it easier on landlords they might have more of these landlords that are willing to take the risk with a Section 8 tenant.
The problem with Denver IMHO is that they make you feel as a landlord that they are doing you a favor, maybe they should feel grateful that you are going to take the risk and provide a valuable service.
Here are some of the reasons I stopped doing it:
1. Section 8 enforces that you provide "marketable" rent to low-income persons. This is fine, but it is basically telling you that even if market is 2k a month, you have to list your unit for say $1500 and be OK with taking a loss. If you are not so concerned with your profit margin then this is a mute point but in Denver where the market is so competitive, it is hard to swallow for a landlord that can get much more for his/her unit
2. Section 8 tenants... I hate to generalize, but you are not just dealing with the tenant themselves, you are also dealing with a certain amount of baggage. I am not saying this to be judgemental. I had some wonderful tenants, but I also had some that had abusive spouses, mental health issues, prior addiction problems, etc. So, you have to be willing to deal with that drama
3. Deposits. Getting a normal-sized deposit from a section 8 tenant is nearly impossible because... duh... they don't have any money. So, I would always work with my tenants, I would take say 100 or 150 deposit. Once or twice, I said not to worry. This is fine, but when they move out, you are basically on the hook for any cleaning, damage, etc. So if you are OK with that, then this is also a mute point.
4. Section 8 inspections. Normally, if you have a decent unit, this is also a mute point, but these inspections can be an absolute nightmare for most landlords. I was always told that I had "the best units they have ever seen." Mine were clean, up to code, etc. However, if you get an inspector that is some kind of Social Justice Warrior lol, they will ping you on the weirdest crap. I had one that told me the cord to the light fan was not long enough. I had lightbulbs that were out, or one time they refused to pay my portion because my greasy stove was a fire hazard. The reason the stove was greasy was because the tenant never cleaned. However, that was deemed my fault and of course my husband and I ended up cleaning the stove ourselves so we could get the rent paid.
5. Tenant Rent Portion. This has always been drama for me. No matter how low the portion is, there is always a reason they can't pay it. I had one tenants portion that was 7 dollars and she could not pay it. This went on for months before she called me in a panic because she thought she was getting evicted. I finally said, let it go, just go buy diapers for your kid.
6. Learned Helplessness, Entitlement, Victimhood. I am sorry to add this, but it is an unfortunate side effect of this program. Something silly breaks (there is a spider in the basement, yes, that was a call i got once), they short-circuit and can't figure out how to problem-solve. I had another tenant that blamed me for her dog getting out of the yard and getting hit by a car. The fence broke, I fixed it, dog broke it again and she could not figure out how to take a screwdriver out and fix it herself. She also accused me of being a "crappy landlord" when I kept some of her deposit because she left the place a pigsty.
Positives...
I had some wonderful tenants that I really felt like I helped and made a positive impact on their lives.