Landlord's opting out of Section 8 Program

[Brad Davis]

Below is a link from our newspaper in Cincinnati about a greater number of properties are not qualifying for section 8 vouchers and landlords are not make repairs to pass inspections. To me the piece lacked the landlords voice. I'm not in section 8 rentals but I would like to hear opinions on why landlords drop out, perhaps any solutions and what opportunities present themselves when other landlords drop out? Thanks all.

http://www.cincinnati.com/longform/news/2015/01/31/cmha-raises-public-housing-standards-renters-pinched/22596041/

[Jeremy Tillotson]

@Brad Davis I can only speak to my experiences. About 2 or 3 years ago our section 8 started to cut funding. One used to get above market rent (which was justified for the extra work) for a section 8 rental. They then cut funding at the same time that rents started to increase. We have very nice homes, that we completely remodel (gut to the studs,all properly done and inspected) I was actually told by a sec 8 inspector not to take it personally but they had to find something wrong with my units, or it would appear they were favoring me, and that the justification for the inspection wasn't there. Since most of these were recently inspected by the building department, they had a hard time finding issues and the follow were some examples. I was forced to replace a brand new fridge that wasn't yet plugged in, the door had shut and it needed cleaned, but I had to show them a receipt for a new one. In another case we added a dishwasher and garbage disposal during a turnover and they refused to pay extra for it. The one that broke the camels back was we had a w/d hookup and I was told to provide a w/d (for no extra money) or completely remove it, I offered to install a cap on it, but we had just paid good money to install a w/d hookup on the first floor., it wasn't getting removed. On my favorite in the mix was my doorbell button didnt light up. So it appears if you have a crappy unit they will let it slide, but if you have great units they pick on you, for that and the increased rent I quit the program. I refuse to have any unit I wouldn't personally live in.