All Forum Posts by: Jamie O'Connell

What's the process to evict a tenant who doesn't pay their small portion or otherwise trashes the place. 

 Seems like you have learned certain concepts that workbut tend to escape even the most experienced landlords. For you to be in the game 2 years Im impressed and see you are headed to much bigger things. Your approach of fixing them up nice enough is one of several things some dont seem to comprehend. The best thing you can have is good section 8 tenants who respect and take care of your place. Treating them with respect and providing a good experience  keeps them there for a very long time; pushing your cash flow  and building your equity. The notion that slumlords believe their tenants will positively be receptive to living in sub-substandard sht holes while being treated with disrespect escapes me.  Either way its so refreshing to hear this work for others in this forum as opposed to people saying they are savages and need to be treated like animals. Back when I first joined BP, I linked up with an experienced low income landlord. We toured his units and he was horrible to his tenants. Then he advised me that If I rent to so called "these people" I need to put in animal cages. Again, its so refreshing to see the genuine side of this coin. Congrats again! 

Glad to hear you are doing well with this. I have a vast degree of experience in section 8 rentals myself. Its great to hear positive experiences because most dont seem to have them. Like you, I have had positive outcomes. It honestly depends on the landlord and their abilities for the most part. Many fail to understand screening, managing, understanding the culture and treating people with dignity.  You are doing things right and I can tell from how you present yourself you somewhat understand and respect the environment. Congratulations and keep up the great work because you are providing a wonderful service and positive experiences to the community that typically has negative experiences in housing oh too often.   

Thank you for posting! We currently have just 2 section 8 tenants in our small 16 unit apartment complex. One has been there for over 24 years. She keeps her place very tidy and it is much appreciated. She didn't start out on section 8 but had to quit working due to health reasons. Most likely just what the program was meant for. Our other tenant also does a good job taking care of the place but he's only been there 3-4 years. We purchased the complex from my father who had many section 8 tenants during the 20 years that he owned it. He was NEVER good at tenant screening. Other than the first tenant I mentioned that we inherited with the place, he had others that were terrible. I am a huge supporter of screen, screen and screen those potential tenants. The more we can learn about them, the better chance we'll have of protecting our investment. Section 8 isn't a hassle for us. We never have to be there for inspections. Paperwork to be signed is mailed back and forth and we only do our own lease as a formality and an extra chance to go in and check out the apartment to see if we need to fix something. I don't believe section 8 in our area, here in se Iowa, will back pay for the time waiting for applications to be approved. They usually say what there's a waiting list for available funds also. No security deposit either. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with section 8. I have never considered this avenue, but based on what you wrote, there are many good reasons to look more into it. 

great post! thank for sharing. 

We always use section 8 for our SFH property. Over the years, we have had some great tenants and some nasty ones. Our most recent tenant just moved out and did not keep a clean house so our clean up and turnover is taking longer than usual.

Great post.  We have some properties with S8 tenants and others without.  My biggest issue with S8 has actually been with working with the organization.  My business partner handles the property management side of things but they can be difficult to communicate with at times.  The tenants for the most part are fine.  You still need to screen them thoroughly just like a market renter.  Once the process is in place, it is nice when at least the majority of the rent shows up regularly.  Definitely is more work to get things set up however.

@Jamie O'Connell well written!

We manage almost 100 S8 leases and have over 24 years of experience - so we have a different perspective than someone like you who is so hands on.

Agree with @Nathan Gesner that you really haven't seen the BAD with a S8 tenant yet - hopefully you never do:)

Couple of points:

1) Most S8 Housing Commissions do NOT pay for security deposits, so you are getting a big bonus!

2) Have never heard of a 1-month bonus from S8.
- They must be pretty desperate for participating landlords in your area!

3) Fair Market Rent: S8 was originally designed for affordable housing, so included ALL utilities. As the program expanded over the decades, it now allows owners to decide whether or not to include utilities.
- Most S8 Housing Commission voucher amounts include all utilities. Each area has a table owners can use to calculate the deductions for utilities they do NOT want to include (or can't - like MFR with only one water meter). To avoid utility abuse, we always recommend NOT to include utilities in rent. Otherwise, an S8 tenant has no incentive to report a water leak or running toilet.

4) Give them an inch & they want a mile: tenants that aren't working, or barely working, have nothing but time on their hands to come up with ways to scam their landlords. $5 to these people is a bid deal! Letting lease violations go should be approached with caution.

Hope it continues to work out for you.