BiggerPockets

I have a section 8 resident who is starting to fall behind on her rent. I am getting ready to start eviction, but before I do, does anyone know if accepting the rent from section 8 is the same as accepting a partical payment?

I am guessing it does, but since they come from 2 different sources i am not sure. Does anyone have any experience with this. The resident is my first on section 8.

Section 8 does not always pay the full rent. I have one house that has S8 tenants - the administrator sets the total rent and then pays a portion based on the tenants income/kids, etc.

If I recall, the rules allow me to evict the tenant if they do not pay their portion

In my experience Section 8 rarely pays the full rent - generally each has their portion - not always - but in more cases then not the tenant does have a portion to pay.

I have evicted tenants who haven't paid their portion while accepting the Sec. 8 portion. The way the laws work in the states I have worked in (never in NY) are both parties are responsible for their portion.

So I would check with a lawyer especially considering your in NY but in a lot of states you can evict while collecting the Section 8 portion.

Yes, taking the Section 8 portion of the rent is considered accepting partial payment. In my area of Ohio, doing that will void the eviction. The simple solution is to simply send back the Section 8 portion of the rent.

If your Section 8 office is landlord friendly, I would call them and follow up with a letter stating that the tenant isn't paying their portion. Section 8 will usually inform the tenant that their Section 8 will be terminated if they don't pay their portion. Many times, that is enough to get the tenant to pay your rent!

Good Luck,

Mike

This has more to do with what is "the law" where your rental is located. In some jurisdictions (example given by MikeOH), accepting partial payment hampers a landlord's ability to evict; in other places, accepting partial payment just reduces the judgment that would be given to the landlord at eviction. You will have to be familiar with your locality's Landlord Tenant laws; or, consult with a local attorney.

Originally posted by Steve Babiak

in other places, accepting partial payment just reduces the judgment that would be given to the landlord at eviction.

Hey Steve - how does that work? Say over three months the tenant owes me $1,000 and has paid nothing. Sec. 8 owes me $3,000 and I have received and deposited those checks.

I evict claiming $1,000 is owed (because that is all that is owed).

How is the $3,000 from the gov. deducted from the $1,000 I am owed?

I get what MikeOH is saying that if he deposit the $$ from the gov that is collected rent and the eviction is void.

Can you clarify?

Originally posted by Scott M.

Originally posted by Steve Babiak

in other places, accepting partial payment just reduces the judgment that would be given to the landlord at eviction.

Hey Steve - how does that work? Say over three months the tenant owes me $1,000 and has paid nothing. Sec. 8 owes me $3,000 and I have received and deposited those checks.

I evict claiming $1,000 is owed (because that is all that is owed).

How is the $3,000 from the gov. deducted from the $1,000 I am owed?

I get what MikeOH is saying that if he deposit the $$ from the gov that is collected rent and the eviction is void.

Can you clarify?

Scott,
Sorry for any confusion; typing quickly into forums between other happenings sometimes leaves things less than clear.

When I have been in eviction court, usually they want to see what was due in full amount and when. From that, they subtract the amounts that were paid in partial fulfillment, and then your judgment is set based on result.

The math is just what you have shown; it's just how it is "presented" that will matter, and as MikeOH says, it varies all over the place.

So in your example, you would get a judgment for $1000 as you might hope.

I have a tenant on Section 8 and one on TRA, which is paid by Social Services. This tenant has been on TRA for nearly 5 years (he's disabled) and they review his eligibility every 6 months when they sign a contract with the landlord. My first tenant was also on TRA until she was accepted in the Section 8 program.

As Ingrid said, TRA pays the full rent, and Section 8 pays a percentage based on the tenant's income.

Hi Ingrid,
Yes, I have a contract with them, somewhat different from S8 though. It states the amount that they will pay me every month for x amount of months (6 so far). My lease is for a year and they told me when I signed the paperwork that they would continue to renew him every 6 months. My tenant is disabled so he doesn't work at all and collects something from disability. He's got 3 kids.

Is your tenant month to month? Perhaps you could notify TRA that you don't want to continue with 30 or 60 days notice? Or are you held to a 1 year lease? It does sound very stressful not knowing what amount you'll get every month.