Section 8 Tenants Turning Away Inspection Guy, Want Them Out

[Jonathan Fouabi]

Hello, I own a 3/3/2 in Newark NJ that I recently renovated to 4/3/2. I inherited my second floor tenant from the previous owner who had a personal relationship with them. They are currently paying $1200/mo., of which Section 8 covers $829. A quick bit of research shows that 3-bedrooms in the area go for around $1700 at most, $1400 at least.

I filled the apartment upstairs at market rate, but the inherited tenants recently requested updates to the kitchen for spring. Cabinets are falling off the wall, tiles are cracked, the ceiling is old, there is no range hood over the stove, etc. They spoke very freely and let me know that they used to turn away the Section 8 inspector to "protect" their friend, the previous owner. Now the cost to repair is mine, on top of not getting market rent. 

I would like to get them out when the moratorium is up. If I can get the Section 8 inspector into the apartment and the space is deemed unfit, what are my options from there? Will the city fine me? Will Section 8 relocate the tenants? Help!

Thank you.

[Brian Garlington]

The title of your thread would lead many to believe that these tenants are the problem.  After reading the post it appears to be something completely different.

If a Section 8 inspector came into that property right now based on what you are saying, the inspector could very well hold up further payments from the housing authority until you fix the very things the tenant is talking about......and,,,,,if the eviction moratorium keeps getting dragged out you will NOT be able to evict them for non-payment.

Brother you are going down a dangerous path and (potentially) giving landlords a bad name.

No disrespect, but you need to do the right thing by your tenants and fix those things before they become disillsioned with you as the new owner and make things really difficult my man.

Those are the sort of things that should have been addressed in the home inspection before you closed on the property and you should have had the previous owner take care of this beforehand.