-It's illegal for cities to regulate landlord rents and fees. 

You might make it an AirBNB, or rent it by the room instead of to a single tenant, or rent the garage separately for added income. 5.

Do not EVER use the security deposit for repairs or rent while the tenant lives in the rental.

It has been tough for lots of people in this area for some time.Last year there was a "temporary" cap set on rent increases. 

As title states am interested in purchasing a 4-plex, owner occupying one unit and renting the 3 other.

I almost made the mistake of paying a Philly guru who was going to teach me the ins and outs of buying section 8 homes and after reaching out to others on BP who invest in better market real estate, realized its incredibly risky.I have 12-doors in Detroit, 3 of which are rented to S8 tenants and have been for nearly 5 years now.The experience has been pretty solid for me.

If you are renting an apartment, look at apartment comps.

Not the same as “Rent to Retirement” - which was initially confusing to me. 

If you seriously want to clean this up and are willing to take a risk, I would absolutely switch things into my name and begin taking care of the property as my own...it takes up to 10 years, but if you'd be willing to start caring for the property and were able to at least rent as a break even, pay taxes etc, then it's no big loss if the owner came back and stopped your claim.

Property Manager says I can get at least $1900 a month in rent on the open market and $1770 going Section 8 route.