Section 8 Wall Repair

[Morris Cohen]

I have a section 8 rental property where there is a brick wall surrounding the property. It is not in very good shape, but is also not attached to the property in any way shape or form. It is a five unit property and all the units are section 8 tenants. My first inspection came up with a list of repairs all of which were pretty reasonable. However the section 8 inspector said that I needed to repair the brick wall surrounding the property or else she won't pass the inspection for the next unit that comes due. Are they allowed to ask for me to repair a wall surrounding the property? It's not part of any particular unit and so how can a unit fail for that reason? I spoke to a couple of masonry companies and there is no way to repair it. The wall would need to come down and be put back up costing me around $8k, which I don't want to spend. I can also just take down the wall entirely and leave nothing surrounding the property for less than half the cost. Is there any value to having the wall in the first place? Should I take down the wall and if so should I put it back up again?