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Section 8 Rentals??? (by jeffpas [IL]) Sep 10, 2016 9:37 AM
       (by Bet [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 9:52 AM
       (by Amy [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 9:56 AM
       (by John... [MI]) Sep 10, 2016 11:07 AM
       (by plenty [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 11:23 AM
       (by Robert J [CA]) Sep 10, 2016 11:28 AM
       (by TenantWhisperer [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 11:32 AM
       (by bet [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 12:13 PM
       (by JR [ME]) Sep 10, 2016 12:56 PM
       (by melinda [MD]) Sep 10, 2016 1:22 PM
       (by Robert,Ontario,Can [ON]) Sep 10, 2016 1:46 PM
       (by mick [CA]) Sep 10, 2016 2:15 PM
       (by Gail K [GA]) Sep 10, 2016 2:26 PM
       (by jeffpas [IL]) Sep 10, 2016 2:39 PM
       (by plenty [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 6:21 PM
       (by elliot [RI]) Sep 11, 2016 4:53 AM
       (by Vee [OH]) Sep 11, 2016 6:12 AM
       (by tryan [MA]) Sep 11, 2016 6:34 AM
       (by CDM [CA]) Sep 11, 2016 10:03 AM

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Section 8 Rentals??? (by jeffpas [IL]) Sep 10, 2016 9:37 AM
Message:

Have a landlord friend who is obsessed with renting Section 8, and never stops talking about it. Although she is a bit of a slum-lord.

What's more, she's constantly trying to get ME to rent Section 8. To the point where she gives Section 8 applicants my number when she's out of units, and even got me to go with her to a "free seminar on landlording" only to find out it was really a Section 8 Seminar.

Her points are mainly these: 1) "Guaranteed" payment from the government 2) You can 'hold it over the renter', meaning if they misbehave, threaten to report them to Section 8 and the program can take away their benefits.

Now so far she's rented to 2 Section 8 people I know of, one she said broke everything... windows etc but was "worth it because the damage was less than the rent". Another renter misbehaved and she reported them to the program, and they promptly cut off their benefits- leaving her with a bucking renter wanting out of their lease. She then admitted well you just need to threaten not really call, otherwise you lose the guaranteed payment.

My feelings are having put so much time into renovations, Section 8 renters will trash the place since they don't really have a stake, its more or less free housing on their part. But from what I've seen it also seems to be a grin and bear it situation- yes you can threaten to report them, but once you do, you're the one that risks losing the guaranteed rent payment.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks.

--75.35.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Bet [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 9:52 AM
Message:

Gosh what a nightmare way to make a living. JUST SAY NO.Its everything you have heard of and worst. LANDLORD who purchase in decent areas have good applicants to choose from. --174.192.xx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Amy [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 9:56 AM
Message:

Lots of extra hassle with section 8. The govt favors the tenant over the landlord. I had to fix holes in the wall at inspection and then go back and charge the tenant, who never paid back. Smoke detector and alarm batteries always were missing. Windows and fans broken at every inspection etc. They can be very hard on a property. There's no guarantee they won't lose their voucher and end up holed up in your house with no way to pay. They break a lot of stuff, they either complain about everything or they don't report anything. I wouldn't start it unless you prescreen like crazy. I have had only 2 good section 8 renters. The rest were horrible.

There is a book about section 8 LANDLORDS I think out of Detroit? who have mastered the art of section 8 landlording. Like no ceiling fans, window break lease clause, etc... Unless you are desperate, or its the market in your area, I wouldn't. --65.31.xxx.x




Section 8 Rentals??? (by John... [MI]) Sep 10, 2016 11:07 AM
Message:

Section 8 comes down to how good of a LOCAL office you have. If they are easy to work with and support local Landlords, then great. But that is very rare.

I find it funny that your friend thinks this is a great idea when, so far, 100% of their Section 8 tenants have been problem tenants. :)

- John...

--66.227.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by plenty [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 11:23 AM
Message:

I find it doable in certain houses and zipcodes. I say no to four or five before i say yes to the right one. My section 8 are good parents, responsible and good house keepers.., i also start them in a good house, in decent schools (at least by their standards) and i have read Brad2000 recommended book on poverty and manage these properties a bit different. As the clientile is different. That's my story, --66.87.xx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Robert J [CA]) Sep 10, 2016 11:28 AM
Message:

Everyone is pushing Section 8 like it's the greatest thing on earth. I told all of my landlord friends that it's a governmental scam. My city, Los Angeles, makes a whooping 25% profit each month when they forward the rental checks to landlords from the State of California.

If any landlord stands in the way of the City making it's commission, then inspectors will fine the landlords and stop making the rental payments until the landlords get back in line and stop making trouble. Like when a landlord reports illegal activity with the Section 8 tenant, the city doesn't want to hear about it.

--173.55.xx.x




Section 8 Rentals??? (by TenantWhisperer [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 11:32 AM
Message:

S8 no longer makes sense.

Many years ago, S8 rents were above market rents so the extra delay/hassle/damages were worth it. No more.

--66.30.xx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by bet [MA]) Sep 10, 2016 12:13 PM
Message:

Many s8 applicants here are at risk of losing their vouchers because they cant find a apartment before their deadline because very few will rent to them. Tenants we had never lost their vouchers after they trashed our apt. We put in for a rent increase after 14 yrs and are still waiting for an answer after 2 months. Next spring they are out. I am tired of the lazy no good adult unauthorized occupant daughter telling to fix things when I should be getting another $150 a month for their apartment. Even the single old guy s8 was a problem. --74.104.xxx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by JR [ME]) Sep 10, 2016 12:56 PM
Message:

Another vote for just say no to section 8. Able bodied, grown adults who can not support themselves without taxpayer support lack some fundamental reasoning skills and intelligence required to be a successful tenant. I don't have the patience or time to babysit grown ups. Pass. --166.182.xx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by melinda [MD]) Sep 10, 2016 1:22 PM
Message:

Half of our places are Sec.8. NO It is NOT guaranteed money. If tenant reports a problem, is up for reinstatement or doesn't complete their paperwork, guess what??? You don't get paid until the matter is cleared up with the Housing Office. I cannot tell you how many months we have waited 1-2 months to get paid while the tenant is living there. Too bad for us and our finances. Also, damage is bad with many tenants. Cleanliness is a joke. They have little to lose. Our experience is that they rarely lose their voucher (maybe with drug charges) but can reapply after 5 years. Better be prepared for many issues with Sec.8 --24.233.xxx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Robert,Ontario,Can [ON]) Sep 10, 2016 1:46 PM
Message:

If the vacancy rate is low then consider getting better tenants with a reasonable credit score. The minimum score should 600 where if possible 700 is a lot better. People who work have different outlook on life where they are less likely to use illegal drugs along with causing serious damage to the rental unit. Those things go hand in hand. Having a completely trashed out rental unit can easily set you back $5,000 dollars or more. The objective is to improve the rental complex not constantly fixing willful damage. Remember the objective is one rents for profit not a social agency. --74.220.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by mick [CA]) Sep 10, 2016 2:15 PM
Message:

S8 vouchers are like gold bullion in my area. The waitlist is about 10 years. I have one single female S8 tenant now and she is working out great. I have recently advertised my vacant units and I got calls from S8 prospects who were running out of time to find housing because their vouchers were weeks away from expiring. The market is booming and S8 does not pay market rent, so many people end up losing their voucher. --132.3.xx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Gail K [GA]) Sep 10, 2016 2:26 PM
Message:

In the past we've had one Section 8 family. The good news is that Section 8 folks tend to stay longer. The bad news is that sometimes you don't want them to.

Dad did work (maintenance at our local school system). And they always had their share of the rental money on the first of the month (although it was in cash which we had to go pick up since they never owned a bank account).

The problem involved their adult daughters who appeared to be human PEZ dispensers regarding popping out babies with every deadbeat they dated. They would often drop them off with mom and dad to raise. At times it was impossible to know how many people were actually living in the rental unit; when asked all this grandchildren were "just visiting".

And yes, it took 2 years to get the "massive" $25 increase in rent for a 3 bedroom house from $675 to $700.

When they finally moved out they were like many poor people; they had come with a lot of junk and left a lot of junk including a nonworking dryer (the house came with a washer and dryer; however, my washer was completely destroyed), a nonworking window air conditioner they had gotten second hand to save on central air costs, and a chest freezer they left unplugged and half full of rotting, cheap food, tons of mismatched shoes, bed clothing, kids clothing, and, ironically, unused condoms.

Gail --73.20.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by jeffpas [IL]) Sep 10, 2016 2:39 PM
Message:

My biggest issue with the 'being able to hold it (the voucher loss) over the renter' idea is that its a completely empty threat--you're only punishing yourself if you call the Section 8 office and get their voucher revoked. YOU don't get paid anymore. What good is that?

My landlord friend admitted that the first time she called in to complain about a Sec 8 renter as I said, they immediately just dumped the tenant's voucher- forcing the tenant to go out and get a job. Amazingly the tenant did, and are now working a job but wanting out of the lease.

Guaranteed payment or no, I think its probably not for me :/ I can't get around the fact that all the hours an employed tenant is at work, you're basically getting paid for an empty apartment. And as many people have pointed out, working people are usually more responsible.

--75.35.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by plenty [MO]) Sep 10, 2016 6:21 PM
Message:

If market rent works and is good i would always choose that first. I have houses like that and vs. Where i choose section eight over market rent. It's based on stability of tenants income. --66.87.xx.xx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by elliot [RI]) Sep 11, 2016 4:53 AM
Message:

So, who would rent your low low income area housing with good paying job, 3x income?

If you have been through the court house revolving door many times a year, getting paid is better than paying your attorney plus 2 months lost rent and a trashed house.

We all whine about the mess left behind, the problem can be made disappear with some $$, at the end, if it makes business sense, we do it.

--173.48.xx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by Vee [OH]) Sep 11, 2016 6:12 AM
Message:

My experience with sec8 has mixed groups, I have industrial accident victims who are clean but slightly disorganized like myself so I let them stay while they have an old car parked hiding it from the nurses boyfriend or something like that. Then there is the other group who work like PEZ but they dont wait till primary schooling has finished, there are new boys quarterly seeking their own likeness on the PEZ offspring and they have likely tried several styles of dispensers, these are also the ones with the storeload of toys with broken parts that fill the basement so you can not see or service the furnace when it fails to bring heat, there is only a clearance aisle to the laundry machines, getting them off sec8 is fairly easy - getting them out of your place involves the abrupt introduction to legal aid which does every possible attempt to stall the actual eviction and cleaning to these folks means remove the good stuff, the landlord can have the remainder that on occasion goes to the driveway at the new place - but you only get one chance to do this so be effective early on a holiday morning when you see on facebook the -cookout- location, a bicycle ride past there at lunchtime is priceless. --76.188.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by tryan [MA]) Sep 11, 2016 6:34 AM
Message:

Need to realize the housing office will only STOP or START your rent payment. Kind of like calling the fire department for a non-emergency then wondering why they SHUT OFF your gas and electric until a licensed contractor inspects the place ... So only call housing when you need your payment STARTED.

That said, they are now below market so new S8 really doesn't pay in my hood. --73.249.xxx.xxx




Section 8 Rentals??? (by CDM [CA]) Sep 11, 2016 10:03 AM
Message:

We inherited S8 tenants but found that our local housing office was so hard to deal with that it wasn't worth keeping them. Our housing office was so bad that they had an entire five-story building, the main subsidized housing complex in our city, closed down because of chronic roof leaks, mold, and other issues caused by the housing department's failure to maintain the building. All the tenants got the boot. Not the kind of people you want to stake your economic future on. --24.130.xx.xx



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