Section 8 tenants always late with their portion

[John Hogan]

So I’ve been having issues with these tenants ever since I bought the property in December(Massachusetts). Every month, I  have to remind them to pay the rent. And every time I would remind them, they would pay then make a complaint about either the other tenants or something in the apartment. Mind you they were late on a payment of $200 every month. I have to hound them for 200 bucks. But I got a letter from section 8 that their portion was going up over $800 starting in June.

The previous landlord never rented out the studio downstairs. I furnished it and started renting to travel nurses on 3 month leases. They weren’t happy about it.  The section 8 tenant started complaining about the nurse. Long story short, the nurse was supposed to extend another 3 months but there was a fight in the street with the neighbors across the street and the section 8 tenant got involved. So she left.

The nurse left on a Friday I had another nurse in there on Monday. This was the end of last month. And they still owed me 200 dollars so I “reminded” them to pay again and I’ll be up there on Thursday to collect. The next day I get a text, that a “family member” just happened to stop by and noticed “new temporary” visitors in the bottom apartment and there are new laws in the city starting June 1st for short term rentals. So I better go check with the city. They left me a picture of some names and numbers of people I should talk to. Needless to say, I didn’t respond to them about that. 

So I went up on that Thursday. First person I met was the section 8 case worker. I told her I was concerned about their portion going up so significantly that it’s like pulling teeth just to get the $200 out of them. She told me if they don’t pay I should evict. Next stop, city hall, so yea they charge landlords fees for AirBNB. I’m not doing AirBNB so those rules don’t apply to me. Anything under 1 month stays. Btw, there were no new rules going into effect on June 1st like the section 8 tenant said.

Next stop was to collect. They gave me the $200 and I told them I met with their section 8 worker and voiced my concern about the late payments and the drastic increase of their portion. They seemed worried. I told them they need to pay on the 1st. They said they signed their lease on the 15th. I showed them the section 8 paper that says the 1st of every month.  The tenant said they have been on section 8 for 14 years and they’re worried that if I keep talking to their section 8 worker about late payments that they could lose their section 8. So I told them to pay their rent on time.

Then they went ahead and said the previous travel nurse didn’t pick up the dog **** and that their son had to go to the hospital because he fell in it and got a staph infection. And showed me pictures of his leg or whatever. 

Now it’s almost the end of the month and still no payment. So I sent them a text this last Tuesday about the rent. They said they would pay Friday. Friday came and went. So I sent them a text Saturday morning demanding the rent. Nothing. I called Saturday night. Nothing. Then I get a text today that they “had a setback” that they “slipped and fell” in the shower and “fractured a rib”. But don’t worry I’ll get my money. This people are a pain in the ***. I already spoke to a lawyer last month. So first thing I’m gonna do is call their section 8 worker tomorrow. Then I’m gonna contact the lawyer. I might give them until the end of the month. Because they usually pay at the end of the month before I send them a 30 day notice. I want to get that next payment from section 8 before I send them the notice. 

What would you guys do in my situation?