How to deal with section 8 tenants?

By Tenant

There are a lot of landlords and real estate investors that has a love/hate relationship with tenants who are a part of section 8. Section 8 is a program from the US government and the department of housing and urban development that provides housing assistance to the people.


Having a tenant under section 8 live in your rental unit has some downfalls; many complaints were made to these tenants such as wrecking the entire apartment and bringing in a lot of children and other members of the family into the unit. However, even though there are downfalls, there are also quite a few benefits of having them as a tenant. To name some, a few reasons are listed below.

  • On-time payments at own convenience. Having the government to pay for the full or a large percentage of the tenant’s rent is great. Landlord no longer has to remind and collect the monthly rent from the tenant. Also it is very convenient for the landlord because the department of housing and urban development has to directly deposit the monthly rent to the landlord’s business checking account or personal account. That way no excuses will be made from the tenant about not being able to pay the rent on time.
  • Protection from tenant’s financial problems. Tenants not under section 8 will most likely be evicted from the rental property if they cannot pay their rent and landlords will be forced to face with a vacant property thus no income for a period of time.
  • Short vacancies. Once a tenant is evicted or decided not to renew their lease, the rental unit will be vacant up until the landlord can find another tenant to rent the place. But if your rental unit is a part of the section 8 program it will be easy for you to find another occupant for your rental unit.

Edited on: Thursday, March 21st, 2013 1:21 am

15 Responses to “How to deal with section 8 tenants?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Nolan

March 21st, 2013 1:40 am

I’ve heard so many stories from landlords about having a tenant under section 8.


Lynette

March 21st, 2013 11:20 am

A proper tenant screening is needed to make sure that you won’t experience any problems with your tenants.


Vaughn

March 21st, 2013 9:20 pm

Being in section 8 really has a lot of benefits.


Lisbeth

March 22nd, 2013 7:00 am

How can we apply for section 8?


Tiana

March 22nd, 2013 5:00 pm

There are quite a few horror stories about section 8. How can we prevent it from happening to us?


Elijah

March 23rd, 2013 2:40 am

Wow! Direct deposit from the government every month? That sure is very convenient.


Scottie

March 23rd, 2013 12:20 pm

It’s great to have tenants under section 8. I don’t have to hear excuses from them about their rent.


Kelly

March 23rd, 2013 10:00 pm

Ordinary tenants and section 8 tenants can both give you headaches but the only difference with them is that section 8 tenants pay their rent every month on time and never misses.


Jc

March 24th, 2013 8:00 am

If there are these benefits of having section 8 tenants then how come many landlords refuse applications from them?


Don

March 24th, 2013 5:40 pm

Will the government pay for any damages made by the tenant during their stay? Since the government is the one paying their rent.


Charlyn

March 25th, 2013 3:40 am

Can I terminate the lease agreement if I see that the tenants are incapable of keeping my investment property in good condition?


Jacquie

March 25th, 2013 1:40 pm

I was wondering since the government is paying the rent of the section 8 tenant


Lorilee

March 25th, 2013 11:40 pm

I hate to sound discriminatory but I find it unsafe to let a section 8 tenant rent my property.


Dwayne

March 26th, 2013 9:40 am

A section 8 tenant has so many dramas in life that I don’t want to have to do anything about them.


Jerome

March 26th, 2013 7:40 pm

It’s scary to think that the person living next you is a section 8 after hearing some horror stories about them.


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