BiggerPockets

I posted here a few weeks ago about a problem that I was having with a Section 8 tenant. For those that don't know my situation, here it was:

I had mold damage in an apartment and a tenant that had complained to the health department about it (2 days after she notified me of the problem!). I read the complaint letter from the health department and I agreed to do everything that was asked of me (and then some).

During this time my tenant harassed me saying that I didn't care about her health and that she wanted to move out of the apartment. She called Section 8 several times and asked them if they could break the lease, but they said the only way out was for me to agree to let the tenant go. However mad this women made me, she had a financial obligation (a lease) and I refused to break the lease because it is not easy to get new tenants this time of year.

The tenant made several trips to doctors and had the doctors write letters to me declaring she should not be around mold. Yet I never agreed to break her contract all this time because I agreed to clean up all of the mold problems.

Then last Friday I received a phone call; it was the Deputy Director of the local Section 8 office. We spoke for some time over this issue and I reiterated that I had cleaning crews ready to go and that I would do everything that the health department recommended. At this point the Deputy Director told me, "Well we want her out of the apartment and we are willing to pay rent on the apartment if you are willing to break the lease." After some negotiation we agreed in principle that Section 8 would give me everything that they owed to me through the end of this month and they would also give me 4 months' worth of rent. Yesterday I received the paperwork for this agreement and the rest is history.

The moral of this story? Know your rights and keep your cool no matter what a tenant says to you. People can say whatever they want, but legal documents are binding. In my case I was able to get rid of a PROBLEM TENANT (no prior history though... hmmm....) and I actually made money off of the deal. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!!

You'll have to check the section 8 lease to determine what the due date for rent is; in my area tenants have until the 5th of each month. If you talk to section 8 about the problem tenant and complain that they are not paying their rent on time then section 8 can kick them out of the program. In my area this is a big deal because there is a long waiting list to get onto the program (your friend can find out by calling the office and see if they are taking new applications). So if your tenant cares about getting their money from section 8 then they will pay their share of the rent ON TIME.

Or rather than taking your complaint to section 8, your friend can simply threaten the tenant and inform them you plan on taking your complaint to section 8. And you tell them they will lose section 8 eligibility. Most tenants can put things together pretty quickly at that point.

I know I am replying to an old entry but I felt someone should. I don't see how the tenant was a " problem tenant" here. The tenant did everything within their rights and the law to make sure, if you didn't do your part and they suffered damaged due to mold, that they were legally covered. The problem was with the mold on your property. Not the tenant. Maybe that's why she has no history of being a bad tenant......she wasn't.

Sure they could have held off but mold is a real health hazard. From a tenants point of view it's important to do the right steps from the start. For your tenant to wait would have put them at a disadvantage had you been a less attentive landlord. Any attorney should have told the tenant it was well within her rights to withhold rent if a property is uninhabitable due to mold. The tenant could have also recovered money for medical bills and such. It sounds like they had a genuine problems.

IMHO, there is no reason to be upset with the tenant. It sounds like your are angry because the tenant knew her rights. Honestly, you should count yourself lucky you weren't sued, let alone profited from this. I know we landlords like to back each other up but come on, I can't believe I'm the only one being neutral about this.

Originally posted by "siszam"

Sure they could have held off but mold is a real health hazard.

No, only some kinds of molds are real health hazards. Most molds are allergents that can cause irritation, but they are hardly hazardous. I am positive that if I went to your house right now I would find mold, but it's not likely I would find botchy. I literally brought in a professional team to test my mold levels and it said that I didn't have any botchy.

From a tenants point of view it's important to do the right steps from the start. For your tenant to wait would have put them at a disadvantage had you been a less attentive landlord.

Not true. If I fail to clean up the place (once I know of a problem) for a long period of time then that is actually a stronger legal position for the tenant.

Any attorney should have told the tenant it was well within her rights to withhold rent if a property is uninhabitable due to mold. The tenant could have also recovered money for medical bills and such. It sounds like they had a genuine problems.

There were no genuine problems. The tenant claimed allergy problems, but frankly it's like saying I should pay for all tenants' allergy medicine if there is a bunch of flowers next door to the building. Maybe that's how you do business, but I don't run a charity.

IMHO, there is no reason to be upset with the tenant. It sounds like your are angry because the tenant knew her rights. Honestly, you should count yourself lucky you weren't sued, let alone profited from this. I know we landlords like to back each other up but come on, I can't believe I'm the only one being neutral about this.

No, I was angry when she cussed me out while I was in the rooms to do some clean up work. But I never cussed her out no matter how much I wanted to do it. IMHO you've never dealt with a nut job.[/i]