Section 8 Tenants? Good or Bad or Ugly?

[Isaac J Mork]

Whats the story with Section 8 tenants?

Guaranteed rent but higher maintenance costs? 

Do you love section 8 or hate it?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Isaac J Mork:

Use the search bar and you'll see this question asked many times, every week, for the last 13+ years.

Everyone has different standards of what "good" is and different feelings about Section 8.

Guaranteed rent? No. Only the government portion is guaranteed, and even that isn't 100% guaranteed. I had a Tenant with $1,100 rent and she was only responsible for $25 a month. She was late every month! Meanwhile, she had a boyfriend living with her and was working two jobs with income that wasn't reported to Section 8. When I kicked her out, she left the place trashed and cost the owner about $4,000 to clean up.

In my experience, people that don't pay their own bills don't respect the rules or the property. They are more problematic and more likely to cost you money in the long run. I stopped taking new tenants with Section 8 vouchers. If one of my existing tenants applies for Section 8 after having a good history with me, then I'll accept it.

Your mileage may vary.