All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Donley

Ugh, sorry to hear this.

I'm not in that location but a couple thoughts - have you checked with local groups regarding rental assistance and/or have the tenants?

For the S8 tenant - have you notified S8 of past due balances (if tenant has them)?  When we have an S8 tenant 20 days late or more, we send statements to the tenant and caseworker.  And I stay on it until the caseworker acknowledges receipt.

There's really no reason for her to move with S8 - she's going to have a portion to pay no matter where she goes and it's going to be the same amount.  If her income has changed, she can notify her S8 caseworker and get her portion reduced mid lease term.

Also, S8 tenants are not supposed to be able to keep their voucher if they owe prior landlords $.  BUT if the landlord doesn't notify S8, they can't enforce this.

Lastly, I would recommend seeing if you can find a good collections person/agency there to try to recoup any losses. We have a few good ones here and while it's not foolproof, they do a decent job and you only pay if they collect (they keep a portion).

This is a hard no for me.  Bad neighborhoods are tough  - even if you have the best tenants on the planet, you will deal with things outside your control - violence, break ins, etc. that will cost you money and kill your paper cash flow.

Also in your calculation, you haven't figured in vacancy, maintenance, reserves, property management and owner paid items such as utilities, lawn care, trash.  Add those in and the cash flow on this isn't all that spectacular.  It'd be fine in a decent neighborhood but not nearly enough in a bad one.

I wouldn't do it unless I was able to find them new housing or keep in the current unit after rehab as suggested.

All good advice here - yes please split those entities ASAP!  

Also I've found that not all bankers are equal when it comes to understanding real estate. If the one you have now doesn't understand what you're doing and how the BRRRR method works, find a new one. I find small local banks or credit unions are best.

I'm a Section 8 specialist and love the program.  You've got a good bit of feedback here that covers that gamut of what you generally hear around Section 8.

I like it for guaranteed rent, long tenancies, higher rents in some areas, added accountability through the S8 program for the tenant and supply/demand gap which means I can attract great tenants by having nice units.

A large number of the issues you hear around Section 8 can be fixed with excellent, thorough and strict screening, including a home visit at their current residence as the last step of your process.  Few landlords and PMs do this and I just don't understand why.

Housing Authorities' ease of business varies widely across the country but I find in general, once you learn the processes, you can count on them every time so if something isn't going as it should, you can reach out to keep the train moving on paperwork and such.

Feel free to reach out if I can help further.

Hi Geoffrey, I'm not in Cleveland but specialize in Section 8.  Depending on your questions, I may be able to help.

If your questions are on how to do well in the niche, I can assist.

If your questions are related more to the local Housing Authority there, I'm no help!  

We just found a contraband dog in one of my properties.  

I called the tenant, reminded her that pets aren't allowed.  Let her know at this point since the dog was already there, she had 2 options - pay a $300 security deposit and an extra $30 per month AND put the pet through our screening process OR get rid of the dog.

She made a call to see if she could return the dog from wherever she got it, called me back, dog gone.  We will be verifying.

I like to give options in these situations, especially when it's a good tenant who we've had no other issues with. Others will go the more hard-nosed route and pursue all the way to eviction if necessary. 

We work with Smart Maintenance out of Maplewood and are happy with them.

Oh there are always so many opinions on on this.

The best landlords I know have a renewal process that includes annual reasonable rent increases.  Usually $25 to $50 a a month depending on the current rent and market rent.  I find that tenants have no problem with this.

The suggestion to ask the tenants is a good one, especially for landlords who don't have a set process and are uncomfortable asking for increases.  I have recommended this to others and it almost always works well.

And it's funny - everything I pay for right now is going up, including on my rentals (insurance, taxes, maintenance, labor, supplies and materials, etc.) - not one time has any of these vendors, municipalities or insurance companies called to ask me how I'm doing, if I'm making more and how I feel about an increase before they do it.  They just increase the bill and expect me to pay it!  So I don't know why our tenants would expect something different from their housing provider.

I'm sorry to hear this.

Contact a local attorney who handles L/T routinely for advice and do what they say.

You can likely file an Unlawful Detainer to have her removed.

But you might also try contacting her Housing Authority caseworker, posting a notice & attempting to meet with her in person and being extremely empathetic about what she's going through.  I'd emphasize that it's not safe for her to live there in the current condition, the city is going to start charging for violations and you can't allow it to continue.

In your shoes, I would loop in the Housing Authority caseworker because if she gets kicked out and/or doesn't pay her rent, she can lose her voucher, which would further add to her issues.

I have generally found that empathy goes a long long way. It doesn't solve every problem but if I can be professional and understand where they're coming from, it prevents things from devolving into nastiness.  Not always but more often than not.