TENANT BLUES

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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TENANT BLUES

N/A N/A
Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes

Hi all,

What a great forum :D and the perfect place for me to vent today! As it happens, I am very concerned about my tenants - many Sec 8 voucher holders reside at my building and several of them are model tenants. The rest, however, enjoy kicking the hornets nest for all it's worth and riling each other up over problems which are beyond my control. For those of you in California, I'm sure I don't need to remind you about the awful heat wave we had just recently. Our county fairgrounds opened up air conditioned rooms for the public to use because of the heat and the State was on the edge of declaring a state of emergency. Well, some of my tenants decided that the air conditioners weren't sufficient - never mind that thousands of us were suffering in the relentless heat and humidity and others were actually dying. Somehow, the heat became my problem. We also have a building across the way filled with the worst kind of tenant offenders - parolees, ex-cons, drug users, layabouts and bums, you name it. These people harrass my women tenants with name calling and sexual innuendo - I have written to the owner many times about the BS with his tenants but not much seems to change. In a nutshell, I am frustrated by what I see as a complete lack of willingness on the part of all of these tenants to help themselves! They expect a government handout while they drive cars that look better than mine, get expensive hair and nail treatments, and generally sit around all day. Some of them look like they could get gainful employment if only they weren't so darn lazy. I don't get it. Where the attraction is in sitting around all day, bored stiff, gossiping and backbiting each other I DON'T know .... but that is what they like to do. Meanwhile they call me for every little stupid thing that isn't up to their exacting standards! I have several Sec 8 tenants who are so grateful for their homes it makes me realize that not all Sec 8 recipients are alike - thank goodness. Ok, so the faucet has a drip and apartment 4 has ants coming in - maybe if the tenant in apt 4 had the common sense to clean her kitchen there wouldn't BE ants .. but somehow that is my fault too. I took the building over a year ago after it had endured many years of deferred maintenance - you can imagine. Sure, there are still things that need to be done to make exterior things look better but what is the point when the neighboring building is such a problem I don't even want to go over to my property anymore? I sunk almost a quarter mil into this place and with the real estate market the way it is, I most likely will not be able to sell. Are tenants really this bad?? Do they get together and wind each other up as much as they do here in my building? I hate it when they smile at my face but then, as soon as I turn around, in goes the knife to my back - I am becoming a hard *** and I guess that is what you have to do to be able to stand some of the stuff that goes on. From where I sit, the government is allowing an entire culture to sit around on its collective *** all the while collecting Uncle Sam dole outs and expecting more - shades of New Orleans. It's sad. I don't care if a person is black, white or indifferent - it just makes my job seem pointless when I see the hopelessness with which some of these people surround themselves - out of choice I might add. Just last week I had to serve eviction papers on a woman tenant who was prostituting to homeless men in her apartment - and all the while the police dept were setting up their sting in the background. I tipped her off and told her she'd be on her way to jail if she didn't stop. The woman in question has 5 grown children, all raised by another family member - inexplicably, she chose cigarettes, alcohol and homeless bums over her own flesh and blood. I am sick of seeing this same situation play itself over and over. I am also sick of being played - tenants who suddenly burst into tears on rent day because they dont have the rent yet, behind the bedroom door, there are several newly purchased garments from the mall. It can be depressing indeed being a landlord when you find yourself observing human wreckage day after day. It has been a tough week. God help us if there's an earthquake. :violin:

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  • N/A N/A
    Member since 2008 · 112 posts · 1 vote
    20y

    Hi Zeke,

    Sorry to hear about your trouble with your tenants. In regards to your tenants not paying there monthly rent Do they only have to full 30% of the monthly rent while the local housing authority pays the rest ? What was your screening process ? Thanks for your time.

    Steve

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  • N/A N/A
    OP
    Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    20y

    Hi Steve,

    Section 8 will calculate how much a tenant can afford based on tenant income. It is not necessarily 30% rent payment on the tenant side - it just depends upon what the tenant can afford based on whatever income amount they receive in a month. Section 8 will then pay the rest. For example, I have one tenant in a 2 bedroom apt who pays just $90 while Section 8 makes up the rest of the $925, and another tenant in another 2 bedroom who pays more at $175, evidently because he makes more money.

    With regard to screening, Section 8 does not allow anyone here in California to receive housing assistance if they have any kind of a criminal background. That helps a great deal because the background check has been done for you. As a landlord, you have to realize that you are dealing with welfare tenants and the problems that go along with that. I was ready for it. I was NOT ready for the pervasive attitude that the majority of these welfare recipients have - namely, the world "owes" them. If I were in the shoes of some of these Section 8 tenants, I would be so darn grateful to have a place to live and the rent paid for me. The opposite seems to be true but what else can be expected when generation after generation have lived on government handouts? The end result is that the newest generation has the worst attitude and that is what I am trying to deal with.

    Zeke

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  • N/A N/A
    Member since 2008 · 112 posts · 1 vote
    20y

    Hi Zeke,

    Thanks for the fast response. Zeke, I'm thinking about acquiring an apartment house that will house section 8 tenants. What advice would you give to a potential to a section 8 landlord ? Any tips ? Do you have to be tough fisted and ruthless with most of these people ? ( reading your first post, i would assume so ) but if you can offer any tips or suggestions I would greatly appreciate that. Also, in regards to you first section 8 rental payments, how long does it take the local housing authority to pay you ? Thanks again for your time.

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  • N/A N/A
    OP
    Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    20y

    As with any tenant, the best advice I can give you is to listen to your gut feeling and watch the behavior of the prospective tenant carefully. If they are disorganized, complaining bitterly about their last landlord and living conditions, and wishy-washy when it comes to making decisions about ANYTHING, then they will be that way with you too. If they are a problem before they even become a tenant, you can be sure they will be a huge pain in the rear once they DO become a tenant. A Section 8 tenant who has his or her paperwork together along with the security deposit without even being asked have usually worked out very well for me. Those that don't, or have to wait for so-and-so to give them money, or lose important papers, have turned out to be most problematic.

    Also, go into the Section 8 program knowing full well that you are dealing with welfare recipients, and all the inherent problems that may go hand in hand with that. I am currently evicting Section 8 crack smokers, and liars who keep moving other people in to live with them even though it's against Section 8 rules.

    You do have to be a hardass with these types of tenants - if they start testing you (and they will) you have to stand your ground 100%. If they become too much of a problem, you will end up having to ask them to leave (ie. serving a 90-day or not renewing their lease if the timeframe coincides). Once they know the jig is up with whatever it is they have been doing that they know they are not supposed to, it's as if they already know they are on the way out and they start to act up even more (a lot like kids!!). Best thing to do is to always remain professional and try not to lose your temper - some of these people will push you to the limit. You do have one thing going for you - Section 8 housing is hard to find. Tenants know that they will be hoofing it on the street if they get too far out of line - they also know they can lose their voucher entirely if they abuse drugs or alcohol, or engage in any kind of criminal act or assault. The best part of Section 8 is, of course, the fact that your rent is paid on the dot without fail - why else would we put ourselves through this crap?? :roll:

    Section 8 can take anywhere from 2 to 4 months to pay you - they always pay the back rent in one lump sum so you don't lose anything. You just have to make sure that you have the financial resources to make the mortgage payments and bills while you are waiting for the check. I recommend Direct Deposit - the check never gets lost in the mail!

    Above all, take a deep breath and try not to go insane when you have to listen to some of the BS that comes out of the mouths of some of these tenants. And, of course, any time you think someone is going to get violent or makes threats, call 911 and get them carted away in the back of a squad car. Good luck - hope this helps.

    Zeke

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  • N/A N/A
    Member since 2008 · 112 posts · 1 vote
    20y

    Hello Zeke,

    Thanks for your detailed response. Zeke, I know and will understand that section 8 tenants are a diffucult breed of tenant. I think most people understand that but if I may ask you this, do you make money with the program ? If you have tenants that pay on time and are responsible, isn't section 8 "gold" ? ( even tenants that bust your balls over there portion of the rent still are sub. by the LHA and thats where you get most or in some cases all of your rent for some units) Also, do you get above market rates for your section 8 units ? or market rates ? Again, thanks for your time and responses to my questions.

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  • Jason Barnett
    Dayton, OH · Member since 2008 · 517 posts · 17 votes
    20y

    I am also a section 8 landlord and I can share some tips with you. Actually you might want to search these forums for "section 8" to read about my own personal horror story. :shock:

    Maximum rent is pretty much dictated by HUD housing rates. I don't have the link handy, but search their website and you will know pretty much what you can expect (it's mainly dependent on area and # of bedrooms).

    Another thing that Zeke covered... some tenants have more of their rent paid by section 8 than others. But what Zeke might not have mentioned is that if the tenant income is low enough then section 8 will pay 100% of the rent to you. So my suggestion is to focus on finding tenants whose vouchers will cover 100% of your rent.

    Also regarding character of the tenants: it's a mixed bag of good and bad. I also was told that section 8 screened tenants... so explain to me how a section 8 woman came to me with a rap sheet a mile long!?! I actually gave her a shot and she's been a model citizen except she doesn't work and thus doesn't pay me her portion of the rent.

    :violin:

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  • N/A N/A
    Member since 2008 · 22 posts · 0 votes
    19y

    Section 8 is too scarry for me . My best rental is a senior condo . I get the rent that is due on the first comes from direct from a bank around the 17 th and 27th of every month that is befor it is due . My other rental is another condo I rent to my ex girlfriend . I almost break even on it but she pays me in cash and her boyfriend is an apparment manager and handyman so they make inprovments . The third in which I just sold has the horror story . This was a 4 bed house with a pool . The first week they let every kid within a 10 mile radius swim in the pool and many had thir cloths on . No adult supervision ever . The lady who rented the place never lived there . Whole families move in and out all the time . 19 people lived in the house and only 5 were on the lease and none of the 5 lived there . No adult lived there all were under age and most illigal ailens including two convicted felons . There were several drug raids . And this was not even a section 8 . We put $22,000 to rehab it when we moved out and used it as a rental . In only 2yrs the brand new carpet was ruined and never cleand once . We had to put $7500 back into it just to have it look the way it did before we rented it just to sell it . When we gave the tenat notice of sale she stopped payment on the rent check . The lesson I learned big houses are a thousand headaches senior condos are a pice of cake renting to your ex so so .

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  • Karen Mcdaniel
    Multi-family Investor · Member since 2008 · 20 posts · 0 votes
    19y

    You need to get out of the mindset that you are there to help these tenants out. It's their misery not yours. Your in the business to provide them housing and that is it. You sound way too emotional and involved in they misery. That might sound cold. But you cannot change these types of people, they have created their own hell. When I started investing I used to think I wanted to start a business to help the unfortunate low-income poeple by providing housing. Making them nice and "pretty" so they would feel more responsible for them. After time you just realize your vision is not their vision. Their realty is different then yours and their responsibility level too.
    It just sounds like your property is in an area that will attract these types of deadbeat tenants. I myself will never buy into crime infested, druggie neighborhoods. If you do just know what your going up against.
    I hope this helps

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  • Filkins Susan
    NY · Member since 2008 · 33 posts · 0 votes
    19y

    How do you search the forums here? Thanks :)

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  • N/A N/A
    Member since 2008 · 251 posts · 7 votes
    19y
    Originally posted by "midniteir":

    How do you search the forums here? Thanks :)

    Click here: Search

    (There's also a link at the top of the page)

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  • James Chen
    Member since 2008 · 5 posts · 0 votes
    19y

    You really should be a writer: I could picture what you wrote in my head. It's really disturbing how there are people like that; makes me not want to get my feet wet in the property rental.

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