Section 8 - Failures

[Chan K.]

Hello Landlord, I have a question regarding section 8 tenant. I have been having this section 8 tenant for a few years now. The inspection occurred annually every year. Then, the inspection failed every year 4-5 items. The most recent one being 1) replace screen 2) replace some floor tile in the kitchen 3) patch and paint the holes that tenants made 4) replace door frame in the common area (major), suck 5) level and replace cement/stone that is outside of the house... crazy no yeah, every year is like that a god damn pain. Only has like 3 weeks to fIx them after receiving the report. I dont see any benefIt of having the tenant. Other non-section 8 never had such overhead coat I addressed 1-4 ... he failed me on the 5) So can I refuse to fix it and don’t want to be in the program anymore, then ask the tenant to leave.. what is my right and my option? There is no information about this regarding landlord .. right I was hoping someone can give me some insight

[James Mc Ree]

My takeaway from what I see in your post is you don't like Section 8 telling you to maintain your property.  Tenants are going to do some damage.  Repairing that damage and charging the tenants the cost is part of being a landlord.  Weather and ordinary decay causes every landlord to spend money.  The repairs you describe above are just part of being a landlord with any tenant.

The nice thing about Section 8 is they FORCE landlords to maintain their properties if they were otherwise not inclined to do so.  They actually require more than my local town rental inspections.  Your tenants appreciate it and the community appreciates it even more!

Think about it this way: What would you do if Section 8 wasn't there requiring you to fix these items?  If your answer is "nothing", think about what your redline is that would trigger maintenance.  You are on the path to being a slumlord if your answer is along the lines of when the property is no longer desirable, uninhabitable or a similarly severe situation.  These small items are what lead to that end state as they pile up.