Section 8 Tenant Leaving for Personal Safety Issues

[Tapiwa Wakatama]

The tenant contacted my PM a few weeks ago letting her know they need to leave due to personal safety issues (ex-marital stuff). Tenant says they won't renew the lease on 10/1/16. Actually the tenant is leaving earlier, but will give a 30 day notice. I said that's fine since it's a question of safety.

When I checked my bank balance on 7/2/16 (around 5am) I was shocked to see the rent missing. So I sent the PM a text alerting her to this. She contacted the tenant around 9am, and the tenant is like 'I'm still at the property.' The tenant actually sent the PM an email around 1am on 7/2/16 re-stating intentions to leave, but never specified a vacate date.

Being that this is my first property, I started sweating bullets and combing the internet for information. I didn't find anything particular to my situation.

I emailed the Section 8 office this morning. They replied saying 'We terminated payments as of 6/30/16 because the tenant moved out. You can contact the housing counselor on 7/7/16 when they get back.' The office manager cc'd the substitute housing counselor. I fired an email to her, and she said 'if the tenant is still in the unit we can pay for July but the tenant will need to contact us or pay the rent on their own.'

So the PM contacted the tenant this morning letting them know to call Section 8 to straighten it out, or pay. If not, the eviction process starts tomorrow. The tenant said "Can you be lenient, the other owner didn't get paid for three months?" The PM said the tenant needs to call Section 8 since they'll pay once it's confirmed they're still there.

I agreed to give the tenant till Thursday to speak with their officer. Tenant also states they're going to the office today to drop off some related paperwork.

I don't know if anyone here has experienced this type of thing, but I wanted to share.