<p>My husband and I have a home that we rent out. We have had the same tenants for the last 3 years and they are soon going to be moving out ( rather short notice too ) At the beginning of the rental agreement, we were getting enough money to cover the mortgage , taxes and insurance, but over the last 4 months have had to lower the rent in order to make up for a shortage of people in the household. we didn’t want to put an extra burdon on the guys and it was working out okay…
Now that I have been trying to rent it out again , we are met with difficulty , due to changes in demand , etc…
I have only had inquiries from people that it would be too expensive or too large for…the clock is ticking, so to speak and I just got an inquiry from a woman who asked me if we accept section 8…claims to have excellent references , which of course I would verify.
I have absolutely no point of reference when it comes to section 8…I know that there is always a negative reputation when it comes to low income and what problems they might bring.
Some of my concerns are probably a bit unfair too, so that is why I am asking here, in case anyone has any advice or experience that they would care to share</p>
<p>You might want to google ‘renting to section 8 tenants’. There are a variety of laws you might need to compile with - like having your home pass an inspection, having it inspected periodically and having to make repairs to the house so that it complies with HUD standards. I googled it and here is just one link:</p>
<p>[Renting</a> to Section 8 family in Palmdale, CA (Lancaster: apartment, renter) - Los Angeles - California - City-Data Forum](<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/262009-renting-section-8-family-palmdale-ca.html]Renting”>Renting to Section 8 family in Palmdale, CA (Lancaster: apartment, renter) - Los Angeles - California - City-Data Forum)</p>
<p>Sounds like there are pluses and minuses.</p>
<p>Right now is a tough time to be renting. There is so much on the market. A lot of people who have to move and can’t sell their homes are resorting to renting. Good luck.</p>
<p>We have apartments so perhaps I’d feel different about a house. We also have “starter” apartments (read low rent) so have had a variety of tenants on various subsidies programs over the years. Because they are apartments we have to be inspected every year and all that rigamarole. Because they are what they are they turnover fairly often and they get pretty beat up. Subsidized tenant rents are usually paid direct to us from whichever agency is subsidizing and the tenants tend to stay in place longer. The checks arrive on time and in general more reliable than the tenants who pay us directly. If your current house is not typical “low income” type of housing or the neighbors are going to be upset about who you put into that house, you might have to think abit creatively to find the type of people you want to put in there. If you do rent to a subsidy candidate just keep an eye on things so you don’t end up with a dozen people living there. We’ve had that happen, too.</p>
<p>Is it legal to refuse a low-income tenant on section 8?</p>
<p>I don’t see why you think a section 8 tenant would be more problematic than anyone else.</p>
<p>SEction 8 involves a lot of legal restrictions on the landlords. Yes, you do get a steady income. But they have a maximum rent they will pay and you can’t get additional money from the tenant. Also, they may require that certain utilities will be paid by the landlord whereas normally you may be requiring a tenant to pay. You can’t discriminate against tenants based on things like race or gender but you can definitely choose between those with good credits and those with bad.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to scare you off or anything, but here’s sort of a “famous” thread at a personal finance forum about a guy and the section 8 tenant he rented to: [tenant</a> claims rain flooded home, clearly lying](<a href=“Earn Cash Back at stores you 💜”>Earn Cash Back at stores you 💜)</p>
<p>It’s probably just a lot more dramatic than useful, but I thought of it when I saw your thread title.</p>
<p>Is it legal to refuse to rent to a guy that can’t pay the rent? Yes. Even if “the government” (taxpayers) will pay his rent for him? Yes. Laws to prevent illegal discrimination protect race, religion, etc., the stuff we are familiar with; does not include ability to pay. Those that can’t pay their own rent aren’t a protected class of people.
The obvious <em>pro</em> is being assured of having a check come from <em>the government</em> for rent.
The possible disadvantages are: the rent they will pay may not be as much as you desire and you cannot require more. If a tenant defaults(such as by moving out early, taking in more residents, having a pet, etc)- you have the same recourse-civil court to resolve it. Trouble is, a person getting such assistance usually has no assets, and so there would be no recovery of actual money- just an empty judgment against them. And usually no wages to garnish. <em>The gov’t</em> does not pay a landlord for damages to a unit; only rent. So if there are damages the landlord must eat it, or sue the section 8 tenant.
And, of course the obvious- a person that knows they cannot be successfull sued(as described above) and has <em>the government</em> paying his bills is less likely to treat the unit with as much care as someone that was paying his own bills and had more to lose.</p>
<p>So yes, any tenant(or LL) can be problematic, but a section 8 tenant tends to be more more so for the very practical reasons above.</p>
<p>I have 2 friends full-time in the rental house biz.
1 will rent to no Section 8 because of the greater risk and more frequent damage;
1 rents to nothing but section 8- willing to accept greater risk and more frequent damage in exchange for the confidence of having that <em>gov’t</em> ck coming every month.</p>
<p>Section 8 all bad? Heck no. All good? heck no. BUT they are all a greater risk, and landlord not as likely be reimbursed even if he wins in court.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve had only 1 experience with Section 8 renters. After just a few months in to yr lease, I found a brother, sister-in-law, and their infant had also moved in. I documented it, they were evicted. I had to pay for eviction, atty fees, and deliberate damage they did because they were mad at me. I won judgment in court for about 3/4 of my monetary damages, but got no money because they are jobless and kids, and no property, no bank accounts, all the usual sob story. I was empty 2 months repairing and seeking a replacement. <em>The gov’t</em> doesn’t pay me for that down-time even though their S8 people defaulted. Section 8 cut them off from future payments as a penalty. Their only penalty. They rent again, working off the books and stiffing me.</p>
<p>As a landlord, I agree with everything younghoss said. I think most landlords would agree with the potential negatives and the Sec. 8 renters not having any “skin in the game”. My clients used to tell me horror stories about their renters. I thought surely they were exaggerating. Sadly, I have found out the hard way. They most definitely were not exaggerating. It is unbelievable to me how many renters will lie, cheat, make up bogus excuses and absolutely trash the place. Some landlords are willing to trade the security of the monthly Sec. 8 check for those risks. </p>
<p>Have also taken renters to court. What a joke! Mounds of preparation time, lots of stress–easy to win. Win what? They don’t care if one more judgment is on their records…Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I am thinking that in areas where there are many renters (NYC, big cities), then this scenario may not be as true. However, in my tinsy town, home ownership is cheap, and if someone is 35+ and still renting, there’s a reason why. Anyone want to take advantage of the free $8000 tax credit and buy my rentals? haha.</p>
<p>I heard back from her and she actually does sound like a decent person ( though I will do a background check ) I know where she lives now. She is currently enrolled in the local community college nursing program and also cleans houses for a living. She wants to remain in the local school district , which I understand and respect. Offered landlord references as well as personal and also from the nursing program as well ( both of which we have connections to )
We are going to consider it, even though a lot of what I am reading here and other internet sources make it sound like the " good ones " are a rarity.</p>
<p>I don’t think the good ones are a rarity. But there certainly are problems. Considering what you’ve said here, I would go for it. We have apartments and also a condo that we rent out. We do not accept Section 8 for the apts (and no, they are not luxury, many of the neighboring apartments to accept it) but we do for the condo. Our section 8 renter in the condo is a single mom with 3 kids. She’s been with us 3 or 4 years. We’ve received ample rent raises ( the city decides that) and we’ve had no problems whatsoever. One thing to remember is that the program pays you most of it, and the renter pays the rest. If the renter doesn’t pay their share they’ll get kicked out of the program. The waiting list to be in the program is YEARS long. Few would take the risk that they’ll lose their spot. You need to sign up (apply) for the program, and an inspection is involved, so you need to be willing to keep your place decent–up to code and all. There is a huge shortage of rental units that are section 8 in most areas. If you go section 8 you’ll pretty much never have a vacancy, and in this economy that means a lot.</p>
<p>As far as evictions and court judgments, we’ve had to do that a few times with the apartments, and yes, it’s expensive, yes, they’ll do deliberate damage, and no, you won’t collect a dime, but these weren’t section 8 tenants, it has nothing to do with that.</p>
<p>What you need to do is find out what the rent allotment is for your house. There’s a schedule which you find out when you inquire about the application. You might find that small upgrade, i.e., add a closet to a room and now you have an extra bedroom, or add a shower stall to a half bath, etc, and it puts your rental into a higher price point. You can find it all out in advance. If the price is right, go for it. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks sopranomom92… I would like to give this woman the benefit of the doubt…she seems articulate and concerned with her children’s education ( a big draw to our town ) She does seem to be trying to improve herself and I have to respect that.
Meanwhile, I have another person interested with small children…also a nurse and trying to live in a better area for her children ( some unpleasant things going on her her city with regard to drugs, gangs and shootings )
I have had no response at all except for the last two days</p>