Section 8 pro and cons?

[Ramek Llah]

What are some pros and cons of renting to section 8 people? Can you share some good and bad stories? I found a great unit which I'm in the process of purchasing and was wondering if renting to section 8 folks was a good or bad idea! Each one teach one------

[Gail K.]

As others have mentioned, screening is often of major importance.  Many landlords will tell you a "good" Section 8 tenant is one who is still working but not making enough to afford suitable housing on their own.   The other part of the puzzle is to check out the Housing Authority you will also will be working with   Inspectors (and yes, your rental unit will be inspected on a yearly basis) can be reasonable or a royal pain in a low spot to deal with.

If possible avoid what I describe as "possum women" (in both the Section 8 programs and dealing with individuals).  Possum women tend to collect children from every deadbeat boyfriend they date with each addition hanging on to them like little possum babies hanging on to momma  possum.  This makes it harder for these women to break away from this cycle of poverty and adds additional wear and tear on your house (also makes  it difficult for you to terminate leases based on Fair Housing rules).

In our case it wasn't mom and dad who produced children like they were PEZ dispensers but their adult daughters who, when tired of dealing with them dropped them off at mom and dads (and my house) to raise.   At one point I had no idea how many were living there but when asked, all these children were "visiting" (until one afternoon when I caught the school bus dropping them off).

One needs a pretty stiff constitution to deal with Section 8.

Gail