Section 8 : ezLandlordForms

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Deanna S

started a topic about 16 years ago

I have prospective tenants that want to sign a separate agreement outside of their Section 8 agreement to pay the remaining amount of the rent that I'm asking. In other words, Section 8 only covers X and they want a separate agreement for the remaining $450. Has anyone ever dealt with that in MA? Am I being overly suspicious or is something fishy about this?

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Julio G

said almost 16 years ago

I'm about to start a new sect 8 lease and getting real nervous about the whole thing. I have an existing tenant who got qualified for S8. She is driving me crazy already.

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Balkys S

said almost 16 years ago

Listen to your instinct. If you have a bad feeling about it, you should back out. It's nearly impossible to raise rent after the 1st year of the intial term. Take your chance on the open market.

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Balkys S

said almost 16 years ago

Ask yourself if you can afford $20k in legal fees. Because if this tenant doesn't work out, that's what you can expect to spend.

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Billie P

said almost 16 years ago

Don't do it. The Housing people will inspect your property and make you incur costs to make changes, then don't protect you when their tenant ends up destroying it all anyway. Guaranteed payments sound like a great deal, but they don't take into account all the headaches you will have and the damages you will have to deal with. In the long run, you won't come out ahead.

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Balkys S

said almost 16 years ago

Oh yeah- you can't willingly increase your rent either the following yr. This is frawned upon. Housing people tell you that you can, but it's a lie. They send you paperwork and they have to approve the increase, and this process takes about 6 mo. - 1 yr before rejection. They stall the process. What's worst, if they decrease their subsidized portion, the tenant is responsible for paying the increase on the remainder, and if they don't pay you, you're collecting less in rent. For ex. if unit is $1155, tenant pays $121, Housing people pay $1034 rent is made. But if housing drops to $1006, the tenant is now reponsible for $29 more rent at a total of $149. Courts will say $29 is petty and force the LL to work out a payment plan with the tenant. Meantime, you've lost more the $29 on the process of getting court. Froms and Filing fees $90 - $135, Constable $75, Parking to go to court $20-$25. This doesn't include the day you took off from work.

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Hope S

said almost 16 years ago

OMG housing just stopped paying for my tenant. They say she has to have a hearing to requalify. Right now I have not been paid August payment and I am also looking at not getting September payment. Her lease expires end of October 2009 and I am not going to renew it. She complains about every thing. She just came back from Jaimaica (went there for holiday). I had to track her down to send me her potion of the rent via western union. Never again. How can you afford to go on vacation when your rent has not been paid?

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T K

said over 15 years ago

I have to laugh at all these posts. ANY tenant is a gamble, and the only thing housing will make you repair are things you SHOULD repair as a landlord. I have had several section 8 tenants. All of them were properly screened (credit check, references, etc.) and every one of them has worked out. I have one tenant that has been in my same rental for 5 years and has had one HOA notice about something that was out of her control. I think people are being unrealistic with their horror stories. Eviction is expensive with normal tenants. The nice thing about Section 8 is that the good tenants fear their assistance will be taken away and often do not pose much harm. On the flipside I have rented to non-section 8 renters and have had an entire host of issues.

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Stan M

said over 15 years ago

I have to agree with TK. I'm in CA and I've used Housing for 25 yrs. Yes, there has been some problems, but no different than the non-Housing. Sometimes rent is a little late, but the usually pay up. You can always send the tenant a 3-day notice to pay or quit. A copy should always be sent to housing. This tends to get the tenant to pay up. If they don't, they could loose their voucher. The same is true if they owe you money at move-out. Back in the day it was wasn't as good for landlords. If tenants didn't pay what they owed, not much was done. Today, it's a different ball game. Some of my Housing tenants stayed for 8-12 yrs. As far as rent increases, Housing checks the local rent market each yr. If you make substantial improvements or can justify) a rent increase (similar rents in the neighborhood, they'll reconsider your increase. Don't expect to get more than what the market will bear.

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Aramah B

said over 15 years ago

I used sec. 8 three months before the lease ends section 8 send me a notice for rent increase that I have to send in to them at lease 60 days. I have no problem getting the increase

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Maricela C

said over 15 years ago

The two persons who have had good experiences with section 8 are pretty lucky. I have had 4 section 8 tenants always trying to think the next tenant will be better, and no luck. I had one tenant who destroyed the house so bad that we incurred over $3000 to get it back into move in condition, and all section 8 said was "there is nothing we can do about it, you have to take them to civil court". None of my section 8 tenants have ever paid their portion of rent on time and I've always had to hunt them down just to ask what's going on. As far as fair market value, I don't know where they get their information from, but its always a lot lower than anywhere else I've checked! The guaranteed monthly payments sound good, but unfortunately I think the majority (because I don't believe its all) of the tenats are like this. Personally, I think it's not worth the headache, and I no longer rent to section 8.

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T K

said over 15 years ago

Again, tenants actions are not linked to the Section 8 program. If someone doesn't pay their portion of rent on time it has nothing to do with the section 8 program. These people are using a program as a scape goat for them choosing irresponsible tenants. Section 8 DOES allow for increases in rent when the market determines such increases are warranted. If you are stupid enough to continue renting to someone who is not paying their portion of the rent, or has been terminated from the Section 8 program thus you aren't getting paid, etc. that is your own stupidity. Again, Section 8 is simply a program that helps people pay a portion of their rent. The program itself is not the problem, its who YOU as a landlord choose to rent to.

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Ronald J

said over 15 years ago

My husband and I just started last year in December with a section 8 tenant. So far so good, the house is maintained and she pays her portion of the rent on time, but she nit picks at everything where it got to the point where my husband was coming over to the house every weekend because she had a problem with something that she wanted changed or did not like. Pretty much petty minor things. We really had to put our foot down with her because majority of these section 8 tenants think that they can just run all over you. We haven't really had any other major problems with her. Like previous poster said you take a gamble with any tenant whether they are section 8 or not. Since this is our first section 8 tenant we are looking to see how this year goes if we want to continue or not. You not only have to deal with the tenant, but with the county as well in regards to inspections etc. Good luck with your decision and keep us posted on what you decide.

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Stan M

said over 15 years ago

I'm not sure why Section 8 renters are being bashed. If LL would do proper screening, have a signed agreement, and collect rent/deposits before turning over the keys, a lot of problem would be eliminated. Instead, some LL are influenced by promises and having a renter NOW! You're better off keeping the property vacant a little longer vs rushing to fill a vacancy. That's economically better than having to evict a tenant who has not payed rent for several months, not to mention expenses to have them removed and your time.

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Gabriel D

said over 15 years ago

I have to agree with TK also. I have not had any problems with sec 8 tenants. My dad has had rental units for over 30 yrs and he loves sec 8. I guess it might depend on the housing office you deal with. It seems in my town the sec 8 tenants are affraid of losing there assistance so they always seem to be on their best. I keep my units in good shape but they are not in great shape and I have no problems passing inspection. Keep in mind though this is not cash and every penny should be reported to Uncle Sam.