Section 8 inspection - no inspection in 2+ years- is this common?

Section 8 inspection - no inspection in 2+ years- is this common?

Member since 2022 · 5 posts · 2 votes

Has anyone had their annual inspections on their section 8 rentals delayed by months? In our city (Bay Area),  inspections are done every two years. Looking at our records, it's been almost 2 1/2 years since the last inspection.  We called our local section 8 housing authority to notify them and asked why there has been no inspection yet.  Someone from the inspection department was supposed to get back to us , but we have not heard back from anyone in almost two weeks.  Tenant claims they haven't received anything from the housing authority about scheduling an inspection.    From what I understand, I hear that this particular office is understaffed.   Is this something we should be concerned about or do we just ignore and just wait until we hear back from them?  Do we need to cover ourselves, and contact the housing authority via certified letter or email so this doesn't come back to bite us?   BTW, our local Housing Authority is a sh*tshow.   i.e. impossible to get anyone to help, completely disorganized, next to impossible to get someone on the phone, etc. 

Thanks.

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  • Greg ScottPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    2y

    Yeah, let's kick that hornet nest and see what happens.

    Section 8 inspections are the responsibility of the agency to ensure they are done.  Assuming you are managing the property well and taking care of maintenance issues, there really is no benefit to either you or your resident from the inspection.  

  • Member since 2022 · 5 posts · 2 votes
    2y

      Our tenant likes to complain about everything, but we take care of any legitimate issues that come up. We're just worried that the housing authority is somehow going to find a way to blame the landlord that an inspection wasn't done.  I did see a post where the landlord was fined $500, because no inspection was done as the tenant forgot and wasn't home to let the inspector in and the landlord was never notified. 

    It's just strange to me that they haven't notified anyone in writing about an inspection by now.

  • Greg ScottPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Phil C.:

    I did see a post where the landlord was fined $500, because no inspection was done as the tenant forgot and wasn't home to let the inspector in and the landlord was never notified. 

    Yeah, for similar reasons we don't really like Section 8.   I would think if you documented that you contacted them, you at least have some leverage. 

    We still have a few Section 8 residents but don't allow new Section 8 residents. What made us stop is when we had a Section 8 resident that did some damage in their unit.  They cracked (not smashed) a window and removed and threw away the smoke detectors.  Upon the Section 8 inspection, they stopped rent payment until we replaced the window and smoke detectors.  They also told us could not recharge the tenant for the repairs.  Of course, we made the repairs and got the back rent, but it left a bad taste in our mouth.
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