Section 8 / PHA Troubleshooting

[Sheryl Sitman]

Calling all section 8 Philly experts. Two problem section  8 properties I would love some advice on:

1. Tenant is doing a lot of damage to what was a new house. 1. Broke newer stove  2. Broke newer washing machine . The washer is definitely from tenant misuse but unfortunately got included in the lease.  Do i have to fix it for her even if I have a repair guy say it is from misuse? If it happens again and  I do not repair, can PHA withhold rent? In other words can she break appliances every month and then I need to keep repairing?  When I do get someone at PHA, they transfer me to a line that does not answer or respond to messages. Or they say "that is between you and your tenant". There must be a way to submit concerns.

Same with pests and bugs. There is food all over the home and we exterminated once but it is filled with flies and she said she has mice. She received a brand new 5 bed 2.5 bath home that is now filthy. Do I have to pay for pest control just because she requests. I submitted a letter to PHA about the house condition but they do not respond.

2. Another home -we failed an inspection. remedied everything immediately and 2 months have past and they do not reinspect and hold our rent.

Property manager has tried to reach them by phone and email, to go into their offices ...  Nothing works. 

I had smooth experience with PHA in the past but this is unacceptable. Anyone know the secret or is it a lost cause?

[Neal A.]

I’ll attempt to be a bit less trolly than the previous post.

1) unless the language in the lease specifically states that you need to fix these things (which it likely does not) you are not obligated to do so. Do not expect any assistance from PHA in the matter. Turning over a beautiful house to a section 8 tenant comes with inherent risks and it would appear you are on the wrong side of it.

There are two choices and only you possess the right answer based on your financial situation and goals. Option 1 would be to let the tenant stay, stop providing support to them (outside of what the lease requires), and hope they trash the property less. The overarching goal is hoping that the rental income makes up for some of the damages. The tenant will likely fail their side of the next PHA inspection and the tenant will lose housing support. You will likely have to evict the tenant at this time for the inability to pay.

The second option is to begin to evict the tenant now due to failure to pay for deliberate damage to the property. 

Both situations are costly and lengthy, but I don’t believe that you have any recourse. In my experience PHA is not going to help you. You don’t have much for leverage in this situation.

2) PHA is often difficult to get ahold of. We’ve had success with emails and a barrage of calls. It’s all about getting the right person on the line. It’s a lot of effort and time. Your property manager should know this.... the fact that they don’t is a bit concerning.