Section 8 Tenants
My buddy and I are considering buying a 4 unit building where all of the tenants are section 8 recipients. I have been researching the program and have been unable to find much of a down-side to renting to section 8 tenants. It seems they have someone keeping a close eye on them (HUD), and that they would be better tenants because they are afraid of losing their free money every month. Has anyone had any real NIGHTMARE section 8 tenants? Thanks. 
Hi,
I live in Indianapolis and have had both good and bad situations with Section 8 tenants. I believe the best advice with choosing whether or not to allow Section 8 tenants in your properties is the screening process. You MUST screen them just as you would any other tenant. I have had to turn down many Section 8 tenants because they had very poor credit reports. (Yes, make SURE you run credit on each and every potential tenant, Section 8, or not) If they have not paid others in their past, chances are they will not respect your property and won't pay you their share of the rent. When I was a Newbie to the rental game, I also thought as you did, that they would make good tenants because they did not want to get kicked off of the program. Well, this really didn't prove to be the case. Most Govt. Housing Agencies have their hands full, and I have never had any luck submitting info. that has gotten a Section 8 tenant off of the program. Most of them seem to know how to "work the system" to stay in their good graces.
I will still rent to Section 8 tenants, but I just treat them as any other prospective tenant in the screening process.
Good Luck with your choices,
Pam
That is great advice, thanks. What do you find is the easiest/cheapest way to check a prospective tenant's credit report? Do you find that visiting them in their current rental is helpful to determine how they will treat your place?
joespine
Section 8 has been great for my rentals and there have been no major problems
I suggest the following sites
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent/meetings&events/mailbag/sect8que.html
http://www.hacla.org/section8/January2002.PDF
http://www.sfaa.org/magazine/archives/2002/0902/features/0902.kelly.html
http://www.occourts.org/grndjury/GJAffordableHousing.pdf
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Hello checking a section 8 recipients credit report is the dumbest thing I ever heard of, 99.9% of section 8 recipients will fail this test that you are giving, they are not on section 8 because they can pay they bills, they are there for many reasons, low income, disabilities, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, a long list, in most cases what is on the Credit Report will never be paid.
so that is a waste of time and money.
Going to the home they currently live in is also a waste, again a majority of them live in sub-standard housing with SLUMLORDS, so the condition of their home may not be because of their faults as much as it was the only place they could find to live.
And the person who was disappointed they could not get them kicked off the program, what kind of moron would want to put children or a family on the street unable to have or affort a place to live, the process for evicting a Section 8 person is the same as any other tenant, you must have cause and serve them eviction papers, you must go to court, and have a judge rule...you do that for other tenants you do the same for them.
No you may run the chance of a bad tenant but you do that will every tenant you let live in your home, Section 8 or not, the only thing is you can be sure that you will be receiving the majority of your rent every month, instead of nothing from a tenant who is not on section 8 who has fallen in hardship or just doesn't pay you.
You treat the Section 8 tenant like any other tenant, with respect, (not as if they are different because they have to be on this program), fix you property when maintenance is needed, have a good relationship with all your tenants and you will find that you have a great tenant even if they are on section 8. (Make sure on the 1st of the month you are there at your property to collect your part of the rent)
As a landlord I would rather know that I had my payments each month, that my home was being inspected each year, than rent to someone who was not on Section 8, have them not pay me anything, destroy my home, or just up and disappear.
The choice is yours, but to have good tenants you must also be a good landlord.
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Quote:
On 2003-02-18 06:29, sharlenehumm wrote:
Hello checking a section 8 recipients credit report is the dumbest thing I ever heard of, 99.9% of section 8 recipients will fail this test that you are giving, they are not on section 8 because they can pay they bills, they are there for many reasons, low income, disabilities, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, a long list, in most cases what is on the Credit Report will never be paid.
so that is a waste of time and money.
Going to the home they currently live in is also a waste, again a majority of them live in sub-standard housing with SLUMLORDS, so the condition of their home may not be because of their faults as much as it was the only place they could find to live.
And the person who was disappointed they could not get them kicked off the program, what kind of moron would want to put children or a family on the street unable to have or affort a place to live, the process for evicting a Section 8 person is the same as any other tenant, you must have cause and serve them eviction papers, you must go to court, and have a judge rule...you do that for other tenants you do the same for them.
No you may run the chance of a bad tenant but you do that will every tenant you let live in your home, Section 8 or not, the only thing is you can be sure that you will be receiving the majority of your rent every month, instead of nothing from a tenant who is not on section 8 who has fallen in hardship or just doesn't pay you.
You treat the Section 8 tenant like any other tenant, with respect, (not as if they are different because they have to be on this program), fix you property when maintenance is needed, have a good relationship with all your tenants and you will find that you have a great tenant even if they are on section 8. (Make sure on the 1st of the month you are there at your property to collect your part of the rent)
As a landlord I would rather know that I had my payments each month, that my home was being inspected each year, than rent to someone who was not on Section 8, have them not pay me anything, destroy my home, or just up and disappear.
The choice is yours, but to have good tenants you must also be a good landlord.
i agree wiyh you very much so i am a section 8 tenant an much to my dismay ive had more problems with slum lords and not taking care of thier own property than anything. as of now im searching for a new rental due to my landlord who wants everything but does not want to give back i live in a 4 bedroom house the house is so old never renovated it doesnt even stand up tp now a days electrical codes had to pay electrician to install 3 prong outlets to top it off i pay all utilities i mean all including tafing care of the grounds front and back i pay for my own oil and electricity and they charge a headping 1700.00 amonth now tell me what average person pays all that without actually owning the house,i only moved here because my previous landlords were moving south and sopld all thier homes so i basically had no choice in the matter but i am looking i am a single mother of seven who works and goes to school and let me tell you i have enough problems without having to worry about where i live,the roof leaks,cracks and holes every where in the foundation, i have mice ooh boy i have never had mice or roaches in my house i hate it the floor boards are lose,everything leaks right i n the basement and imean everything. if you spill a glass of water in the kitchen on the floor beware the basement will have a puddle so much air comes into this house i spend a arm a leg and a thigh on oil,i spent 200.00 from 2-10-03 to 2-22-03 and bought oil today 3-3-03 what kind of mess is this i dont live in alaska i live in longisland so its not that cold for oil to be lost so fast and therei s nothing i can do but move now i must pay for moving expenses and so on relocate my kids in new schools and all so you see dont think because section 8 is helping someone to pay thier rent everything is hunky dory because its not,not all landlords are slum lords i know this but its hard to find good landlords out there that i think really deserve section 8 ,they will pay you religiously every moth you will never have to worry and its always on time i also think they need to hire better inspectors for section8 being as though they are the ones who actually approve everything. well i rest my case but just remember people are people look at everyone the same until they give you a reason to think otherwise.