Are there any people out there with experience in dealing with Section 8 administered by the City of Los Angeles? I have been trying to get a hold of the Section 8 advisor for one of my tenants and she has been impossible to get a hold of. I've left a voice message, called several times, and also sent her an email. I just tried calling again and her voice mailbox is full.

I really need to get a hold of her because a tenant I inherited has mild dementia and I don't think she should be living alone because she does things that are a danger to herself and also the property. As an example, she likes to use the stove to heat her unit instead of the wall heater which is fully functional despite being told repeatedly that she shouldn't do that. Since her living situation is dangerous, I really feel compelled to do something.

Her cousin, who lives out of state, agrees with my assessment and has been attempting to bring her back to Texas so that she can be placed in a proper facility that can provide her with round the clock supervision and care. Initially she seems amenable to going back, but as the day approaches, she starts getting belligerent, very agitated and refuses to go back. Apparently, she has been living in this unit for 35 years and she mentally cannot handle going back.

I feel as if Section 8 would have a considerable amount of tenants in a similar situation because let's face it, when people who wait several years to get Section 8 benefits finally get it, they pretty much never got off it. They are Section 8 for the rest of their lives. Eventually, a good amount of these people are going to need supervision or daily home health care visits.

Instead of trying to contact her adviser, does anyone know if there is a different HACLA dept I should try contacting? I was thinking of contacting APS (adult protective services) and schedule a Social Worker visit, but not sure if I need to work with Section 8 prior to doing something like that.

Also, as much as I like the inherent security with Section 8 tenants, I cannot imagine how much of a nightmare it would be if I actually needed to take care of some administrative work, like follow-up on a failed inspection, or submit an annual rent increase, because the agency is so unresponsive. I can picture a situation where I'm trying to schedule a follow-up inspection after making repairs, and I don't hear back from them for months. Meanwhile, my unit is sitting there with no rent being collected.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Need Section 8 Advice on Tenant with Dementia

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