All Forum Posts by: Carrie Smukal

Unfortunately, some people know how to play the system.  If a tenant can get even $5 of food assistance from the Gov't, in Wisconsin you cannot garnish their wages; I learned that the hard way.  I was in constant contact with Sec 8 about the lease violation and they told me to go through eviction process; they were no help.  I did everything I was supposed to do; I won my case, it is all documented but I'll never see my money.  Sec 8 got all copies of pictures and documents and what they did I have no clue.  I'm just glad it is all over.  Future landlords can find it in the court system.  I'm done with people who are not responsible;  No job, No checking account, No car, NO RENTAL!  SEC 8 or Non-SEC 8.

In Racine our Housing/Section 8 doesn't care what is next to your house; it could probably be toxic and not be a problem!  So for folks on Section 8 I didn't really look at their credit score because I knew I was getting paid by the government; it didn't really matter if they paid their bills.  I recently had a bad experience with the section 8 tenant and had to go thru the eviction process, it was messy and won't do section 8 any longer.  Here, most section 8 people don't care about taking care of your property.However, for all of my applicants I am looking for convictions of any kind, drugs, anything illegal.  I do look them up in the local court system to see if they owe any money where associated with their past landlords and I will not take anyone who owes another landlord money for any reason.   I have decided to only rent to people who's wages can be garnished and I'm thinking a credit score of somewhere around 650 or more.

Thank You Bradley. That was a great explanation.all I would be able to offer to anybody you would be the HUD Vash I am not able to provide any health care. Sorry i didn't respond sooner i don't believe i got an update until now with the last post. I ended up renting the house I thought might be a fit for one of these programs. I was also disappointed that nobody ever returned my calls from our local area so I guess it's not meant to be. Maybe I'll try to look into it again for the next home that comes available. Thanks again for the info.

Thank You for the Info, Gail. I will take a look at it. Yes the Vet that I refer to actually rents from my brother and he gave my business card to his contact within the Federal Gov't. I'll be careful.

Well this is what i have learned from a local Vet: In his situation he tells me that his rent is paid by the Gov't because he was wounded in the line of duty. I believe he said that most of these Vets do have PTSD or other disabilities, may have families or single. He took my business card and was to forward on to a gentleman within the organization in which he is involved. I have not heard from this gentleman as of yet. I am definitely not interested in the HUD-VASH program at this time because I am not qualified, nor setup/trained for anything like that. I wouldn't mind, but right now am managing my own 7 properties and working full time. The information is great though. Wish I could do something like that and quit my job!!! Getting so tired. Thank you all for taking the time to post!

Thanks that's kind of what i'm thinking too. Imagine 4 veterans in your home -vs- a bunch of kids tearing it apart. I will repost when I get some more information. This gentleman said that he is going to get a information packet for me and a contact. One person supplied me one thought though, and that is to see if the Veterans can be screened like any other tenant or are they placed in the home. If someone comes home with traumatic distress, could that individual be dangerous and what could be my possible liabilities.... So sad to think that way but we have to protect our assets.

Well from what i understand is that your home can be offered to veterans (a Gov't funded program), similar to a section 8 tenants. This veteran himself told me that the home could house maybe 4 veterans (4 bedrooms); retired, active, disabled.... He led me to believe that the Gov't would even furnish the home for them. This is all new to me.

I am purchasing a home in Wisconsin and offering it for rent. I have had a veteran ask me if I would be interested in offering this home as a Veterans home? It sounds interesting to me and would like to entertain this idea. As of now I offer single and two family homes. Has anyone had any experience in this? Have any advice for me? Thanks!

Thanks Joe, I hear ya!

And Matt that sounds like a great idea. I figured that was my next step to call the water dept. There must be some rhyme or reason to this.

Thank you for all of your opinions. I would like to mention however that even though a lot of you are busting my chops about me not wanting to update my home or be safe, that that is not the case at all. This has absolutely nothing to do with myself not wanting to update my homes. I am an excellent landlord and I take care of and update my properties continuously. I do not have any properties that are unsafe in any way. I operate my businesses in a professional way, documenting, and setting standards and rules.

Some of you may have missed that I have only heard of this happening twice. So this tells me that this is not a consistent practice performed when purchasing a home within my city. If there are city laws or ordinances or whatever, they should be carried out consistently, to everyone, not just a few people here and there. That is my point.

I have purchased 8 or so foreclosed homes so far and I have not been confronted with this yet. I have asked my realtor about this and nobody seems to have the answer yet. The original question was: "What the circumstances may be in which the city can force themselves into your home like this?"

I will just continue to find these answers within my own community. Thanks again for all your input.