Hello BP,

I have a SEC 8 tenant that resides in the unit for 6 years.  This unit failed inspection this year due to tenant's damages to the property.  Tenant said that she doesn't have money to repair. The lease will be expired by the end of February of 2018.  i want to make all repairs and then send 60 day notice that I won't renew a contract and then put it for sale.  I just realized that I don't have a tenancy addendum to the lease with the tenant.  What should I do now? Would it be impacted on my 60 day notice about non-renewal a contract?

Thank you in advance,

Mira- Real Estate Investor

I don't understand your question. What are you referring to when you say "tenancy addendum"?

About tenant damages.... you should be doing regular unit inspections of the unit for maintenance and repair, as well as to catch lease violations so you can swiftly address them.

For the non-renewal.... follow the landlord-tenant laws for your jurisdiction and any requirements imposed by the contract you have with the Section 8 program. Contact the Section 8 case manager for this tenant for clarification as to what needs to be done from their point of view.

It's a good idea to repair the damages as soon as possible so you won't miss out on any Section 8 payments. Typically Section 8 will give you a notice of what needs to be done to pass inspection and a timeline. If you do as they say, not only will it secure your being paid for January and February, it will also help you get the unit habitable again for the sale.

Instead of a fixed-term lease, you can go month-to-month if you can't get everything in place in time to end the tenancy by the end of February.

Marcia,

Thank you for your reply.  Per inspector report the tenant's responsibility just replace the light bulbs.  There are a lot of holes in the walls and per her report it says "fail" and I spoke to her and she said that this is LL's responsibility to fix that. Her letter stated that it is our discretion whether or not to allow the tenant to perform repairs to the unit for items listed on the inspection report as "tenant-caused damages" and she strongly recommend it be clearly established through an addendum to the existing lease if I will allow repair work to be performed by the family.  No"tenant-caused damages" on the report at all. I just don't know what is the right step at this time.  Can I evict the tenant for damages to the property?

When a tenant tells you they can not afford repair costs it is irrelevant. You do the work and bill the tenant if they do not pay you proceed through the regular channels as with any tenant. That may be small claims court if the money owed is sufficient enough to warrant it. 

If they have a damage deposit you take it out of the deposit. As for evicting ....why bother when you can simply non renew at the end of February.

Thanks Thomas,

Can I collect the full amount of the rent from the tenant if SEC 8 will stop payment for failing re-inspection?  i don't want to make repairs right now since the tenant will destroy something again by the end of February.