Welcome to BP! 

Does anyone know how to go about it?  

Set a utility usage cap that is stated and agreed to in your lease agreement.

Many spend significant time on waitlists, and the program has struggled to keep up with skyrocketing rents.Now voucher users and their housing providers are facing fresh challenges, in the form of proposed workforce cuts at HUD and important discussions on Capitol Hill that stand to slash the number of people who can receive Section 8 assistance....

let me know what you think if you go to auction.com you'll see it's being bid on over the next few days. 

Quote from @Robert Briggs: Going to sell one of my rentals (Houston Area)  and need to finance 30-40k and repay the rehab/ make ready loan after sale. 3-4 months .

Sorry to hear about the investment going sideways and credit to you for sharing your experience on here.

My question is this: before the am date of the auction 3 weeks from now, is there any way to find out if the mortgage has been paid and brought back to be in good standing, hence avoiding foreclosure and removed from the auction altogether?

Quote from @Tomasz Kaminski: @Chris SeveneyHow do you consider property value if you cannot go inside to evaluate the interior condition?

If you have the experience then you should become a broker and go for it.