RE: Getting rid of a PITA section 8 tenant. OK I know some people here

will say THATS WHY I DON"T DO SECT 8.!

Well this is a nice building in a somewhat isolated rural town that has lost population over the years since the major factory moved south, almost all we get is people on sect 8 applying, Generally older tenants and people on disability as they can move anywhere, and, its a nice clean quiet town .

So we have a older tenant who was OK for 3 years but now complains about everything and fights with the other residents,.Calls the Board of health for anything she thinks is wrong w/o calling us to have anything fixed. IE dripping facet,cabinet door that needs a hinge fixed,, a bit of mold in the bath because she thinks it will cost her too much to activate the fan,. fights about parking .etc.

We get calls about every other day either from her or other tenants about her.

Would like to get rid of her as soon as possible. So I was wondering if I can tell her after a date maybe 3 months from now, that we won't accept more monies from Housing and that she will be responsible for the entire rent

I have to look it up at the office ..but I THINK her contract is up about then.

I'm sure she will leave because she is very angry about the fact we recently

raised the rent to housing to max they approve for her unit and she will have to pay a bit more on her contribution.

Question,.does one always have to wait until the tenants contract is up to get rid of a tenant?

My rentals are in the same type area. Once a thriving bedroom community for Xerox and blue collar until the state chased away all the business due to over regulation and lawfare, high taxes, etc. (and continue to do so, just read the news)

At least 2/3rds are on some sort of subsidy and I get a lot of "divorced/separating" women who are PITAs in general but you can't legally discriminate against their familial status.

I wouldn't put in writing that you are planning not to take subsidy money as that could be interpreted as "discrimination."

Confirm the end of her contract date and raise the rent to over the max that the HA will approve.

Section 8 is a fine program in theory. If you are land lord with class C or lower units located in a location that is either mature or in decline, it can be an excellent stabilization tool for both the land lord and the tenant.

And then the government gets involved. We no longer have safety inspections, instead we have housing quality inspections. There is no check sheet that they follow - so when I was told the vent in the bathroom was too noisy, that was my last S8 resident.

OK,good thought of maybe considered discrimination, would giving a notice now that rent will be raised giving her 3 months wen her contract runs out wo.uld be OK?

Mark, I concur with everything that mapleaf18 [NY] suggested you do. Definitely DO NOT put anything in writing suggesting that you will not accept S8 monies!

The key thing is to make sure that you comply with the appropriate time notice that's required by your local PHA S8 contract. Mine call for notice to be given 60 days prior to the end of the present contract. You need to give this notice to the tenant as well as their caseworker at the PHA.

In the meantime, if they violate any provisions of either your lease or the PHA contract you should issue them a written notice to comply or quit. I don't believe that the time frame for this type of notice is actually specified in MA law. If your leases don't already have such a clause, I suggest that you add one. In my rental agreements I use 7 days as the length of time that they have to cure. Since your tenant is hostile & quick to call the BOH, PHA, etc, make sure that if you go this way that you have a legitimate violation & that you establish & maintain a through paper trail.

://evictionnotice.com/wp-content/uploads/Massachusetts-Notice-to-Comply-or-Quit.pdf

I don't know MA law, but if you're allowed to do a no cause eviction, then just non-renew the lease and do not give a reason. Otherwise, your plan for maxing out the rent is probably the only option you have, which sadly leaves the tenant in control of whether she stays or goes.

If you're not allowed to do either of those, then consider getting your money out of that state. MA is part of the Leftie conclave that believes in high taxes, burdensome regulation, and 100% tenant rights. Sell now before they nationalize your rental for the greater good and invest somewhere that treats your money well. You don't have to live in the town where you invest. Missouri is great! There are probably some states that are closer to you that are also good. I have friends at my church that invest in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, but they all live within 10 miles of me in SW Missouri.

Point for the future: stay away from subsidized rentals for the rest of your life. When you take their money, you agree to play by their rules, and that usually favors the tenant over the landlord. Also, there's no way to recover any funds for damages, a fact that Sec 8 and other "guaranteed rent" plans fail to address. If the tenant decides to wreck your rental, their measly deposit will not cover the cost of repairs and you can't squeeze blood out of stone, so suing the tenant does you no good. Subsidized tenants by definition are broke and will probably always remain broke. The risk to your unit is multiplied.

You cannot refuse to renew just because the contract term has expired. Allowed reasons to terminate a contract are described here:

HUD Occupancy Handbook 4350.3. Chapter 8

In my hood rent increases for hud are given 90 days prior to lease expiration.