Section 8 tenants issues

[Dave Versch]

Hi. I'm in a situation where I'm about to close on a rental property that has a Section 8 tenant. I just found out that the current owner and the tenant have a side agreement where the tenant pays the owner almost $100 per month more than what Section 8 is aware of. According to the HAP contract with Section 8, the total rent is supposed to be $583 per month, of which the tenant should be paying $130 and Section 8 pays $430. The lease that the tenant signed with the landlord calls for $675 per month. So what's happening in actuality is that although Section 8 is paying their share of $430, the tenant is (knowingly) paying $222, unbeknownst to Section 8. Incidentally, the current property manager employed by the current owner has agreed to stay on, so at least there's continuity...

Opinions anyone? Is this common practice? Should I risk getting involved in this, or should I run as fast and as far away as I can?