section 8

Has anyone ever rented their house out to section 8? I want to get out of my neighborhood sooo bad but my house is not budging and recently heard about section 8 and was wondering if anyone has information or feedback on it?

Re: section 8

I highly advise against it. My Dad did it and is now jumping through flaming hoops to try to get the tenant evicted.

My friend had a similar experience - took more than 6 months to get the tenant out of the house.

Maybe it would be different if you sold the house at some point and the tenant had to vacate because of that - I'm not sure.

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We had a bad experience in my neighborhood, but a friend of ours bought their house with the tenant already in the apartment and it is working out well for them. They like the guaranteed money from the county.

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DH's aunt and uncle do this, they've had mixed experiences. I know they had to evict one renter and they trashed the place before they left.

Message edited 1/17/2011 3:51:17 PM.

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I just came from one of my listings that is rented out to a section 8 tenant

I walk in to see the place trashed

iron burns on the new carpet

kitchen a wreck

basement filled with trash

and the best part- she is using the oven to heat the house b/c she has no money for oil

she was also sleeping at 2pm when I got there

I advised my client to evict her

she also didn't shovel the snow and told my client not to come and help her

my client also has another property rented section 8- that now has roaches and also had no oil last week

my advice- rent it- but not section 8

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My ex-h and I owned multi-family in Manhattan. The majority of our tenants were Section 8. Not only did they trash the apartments, but they knew exactly how to work the system and it is very difficult to get them out.

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I think everyone here gave you excellent advice. Do not do it.

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Renting anyway is hard, people who pay their own rent can be nightmares too. I have seen what they do when they are evicted after living free for months.

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DO
NOT
DO
IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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We have been renting properties to section 8 approved tenants for a couple of years. Our tenants pay part of the rent themselves and I must say we have had good experiences with them respecting the property. We have the annual cost of oil built in to our rent because we don't look to make a big profit each month & we paid so little for the property the numbers jive. One house has a new heating system with Multiple zones and only the bedroom thermostat is controlled by the tenant (because they have kids & I don't believe in kids being cold when they sleep). The others are programmed at settings the tenant agreed to & locked, that eliminates the oil drama.
The worst part recently has been NOT getting paid from the government. They paid their portion late more than half the year in 2010. A few times almost 30 days late with no explanation and no apology.
We have not had to evict any of our tenants yet. We did have one move out with out warning and left behind junk but they also forfeited their security so it wasn't that bad.
Although the county will say they need more section 8 landlords, the process for getting approved is a major PITA.
There are risks to being a landlord of any kind and you always have to be in the position to cover the nut yourself each month if needed.

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My DH and I did this and we would never do it again! It was our first house. The tenant was soooo horrible!!! There are too many reasons to list.. you can't even imagine.. The last straw was when she brought home a rotwieller (sp?) In the lease it said no pets and the dog bit her daughter and almost bit a neighbor.. She tried to sue us for the medical bills!!
The only way we could get rid of her was to sell the house..

Re: section 8

thanks everyone for your insight.. I think we will try to find another way out of this house... I had a feeling it would be like that and you helped confirm it.. Renting privately isn't much better for us either because of the town we are in.. I guess we'll just stick it out and see how it goes, someone will want to buy it eventually.. we have 5 years till ds starts school anyway. just would have been nice to get into a new house now while prices and rates are low..

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Message edited 1/18/2011 8:46:35 PM.

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I'd only consider Section 8 if it was a purely investment property that I had no emotional attachment to. If it was a house that I lived in for a while that I moved out with the intention of renting, i'd probably not do it since I would have attachment to it.

I would almost EXPECT the place to get trashed so I would only be doing bare minimal maintenance on it.

Now I know where the term slumlord comes from. Why would I want to fix something up nice knowing it will probably get trashed.

Re: section 8

Okay, I used to work at U.S. Dept. of Housing (HUD) which is the federal agency that provides funding local housing authorities for programs like Section 8 (which is actually called the Housing Choice Voucher Program).

Anyway, there are def pros and cons to it. To qualify as a Section 8 landlord, your property will need to undergo an inspection and meet certain criteria. After you are approved, you can choose your own tenant. You are free to do your own screenings, such as running credit checks or asking for paystubs to verify employment. You can have your own lease, but it has a addendum to it from your local housing authority. Also, you cannot charge more than the pre-established fair market value for the size of your unit.

If I remember correctly, (this was years ago) the tenant is responsible for paying 30% of their gross adjusted income toward rental costs--of course, if they have no income, they don't pay anything. Then again, you can always choose to not have a non-working tenant. The rest of the rent comes from the local housing authority. All recipients go for an annual recertification to requalify them and adjust the rent.

Section 8 also helps out the elderly and the disabled. You hear a lot of bad stories and horrific experiences but you probably don't hear about the families or eldery that don't want it to be known that they are getting helped through Section 8.

So yes, it can be a great experience or it can be a terrible experience. If you are interested, you should contact your local housing authority for more information.

Re: section 8