All Forum Posts by: Mak K.

@Jordan S. It depends partially on your local PHA, but mostly on whether she is currently on a Section 8 voucher (and her rent has just stagnated) or has she just received one she is intending to use on her current unit?

The short answer if she has just received her voucher is no, they won't budge on their cap for what they will allow the initial rent to be, at least not without extra hoops. They will tell you how much you'd need to come down however, and give you/the tenant an opportunity to resubmit if it indeed it too high.

The short answer if she has had a voucher all this time is they will probably allow the rent increase, but will cap out their subsidy amount and expect her to pay everything over that. Depending on what their FMR rate for your area is v. what you'd like to raise her rent to, that could be significant. A few PHAs will deny rent increases when they're submitted if they feel they are unreasonable for the area, so YMMV. I'm not familiar with your local PHA to say for sure.

In either case, if you call the employee listed on her voucher or annual renewal notice, they're usually happy to run the numbers ahead of time and let you know exactly what will happen, though they obviously wont encourage you to raise the rent over the limit even if they wont actually reject the increase. 

@Joseph Weisenbloom has it been fully executed? I’d think you need a lawyer for the real answer but I can give advice on how to prevent this in the future.

Did you have a lawyer create a custom lease for you or did you find one online? I’d use this as an opportunity to reassess your lease verbiage to see what other loopholes you have exposure to.

I’d avoid open ended deadlines and make it as specific as possible.

Also I saw someone else say you sign last. Absolutely true. I send the tenant the unexecuted lease to review and sign then the owner signs once satisfied Incase we need to terminate.

Check to see if any other terms they should have done hasn’t been done resulting in a breach of contract.

I'm not sure about your market, but the housing authority sets the rent based on comps submitted here in Atlanta.  I only have one section 8 property and have had good luck on having all my suggested rent increases approved.  

@Sarah D., what I do is buy my own paint and tools, then head over to the Day Labor Center and ask for people with painting experience.  These are usually the same guys who are working on painting crews for the professional paint companies...  You tell them exactly how many hours you need for that day and the type of work and the pay for that work.  Everything is set up there at the DLC, so there is no confusion at the end of the day and there is a record at the center.  I will usually paint along side the guy for part of the day to see if he knows what he is doing.  If he is good, I will ask him to come back the next day.  If he is not that great, I ask the center for a different person. This is usually an all cash transaction, so you won't get any receipts.  I have found that the work is just as good as the professional painting crews.  ALL of the guys that I have hired through day labor centers have been extremely hard working, polite and professional and usually tip and provide lunch.  YMMV

I am not going into the legal, safety or political points of hiring these guys and using them.  I am just pointing out another option for you that has worked well for me.

Good luck to you!

-Arlen