Comments on: “Every landlord’s worst nightmare” video

By: grumpyoldfart

grumpyoldfart — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:28:33 +0000

I always thought taking Section 8 was the plan just before burning it down for the insurance money.

By: LAB

LAB — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 19:14:49 +0000

Section 8 guaranties a landlord the full market rent for the square footage of the unit regardless of where the dwelling is located. If a tenant’s share is only 10% of the market rate, Section 8 will make up the remainder. Even if the tenant doesn’t pay, Section 8 checks just keep coming in to the landlord, so the landlord gets something every month. Very lucrative for someone in it only for the money. Distressing for everyone else around that dwelling because the unfortunate thing is that Section 8 brings some pretty scummy tenants. That’s why mixed-income housing doesn’t work in the end.

By: theresa phan

theresa phan — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:48:52 +0000

Seems like the likely result of HUD’s position, and the “fair housing” crowd will be counter-productive. If landlords find it increasingly burdensome to rent to section 8 people, then they will get out of that business entirely.

By: Not me, I'm a Special Snowflake

Not me, I'm a Special Snowflake — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:46:50 +0000

Lousy tenants/homeowners can live anywhere and represent all demographics. Some people may have a relative or a trust fund instead of a government program that pays for their rent/mortgage. There are too many factors for one to say that any one of them is dispositive.

As for weeding out deadbeats, it is a lot easier to gauge a lessee’s financial health as it relates to a one-year commitment (e.g. a lease) than it is to ascertain whether a person will have the ability to pay in 10 years. All a creditor, landlord, etc. has is the information currently available. Even with high income and ultraconservative saving habits, most people are not prepared to be unemployed for a year. Moreover, in the current economic climate it is quite a challenge to find employment at a comparable salary, especially the older the job seeker is.

There are also sects of society that are not comprised of criminals that distrust banks and prefer to transact in cash (e.g. depression-era types, survivalists, etc.) in which case a credit report would not reveal said party’s ability to pay.

Bottom line: Business is a risk for all stakeholders and due diligence is simply the most popular tool for assessment of credit risk.

By: Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 21:37:47 +0000

I get a kick out of the sanctimonious garbage that spews from the ‘blame the victim’ crowd, because families and children who lose their homes to the likes of Bank of America are certainly deadbeats! This is simply a situation of ‘lessor beware’. Once locked into a lease, renters arent protected from slumlords, so why should there be protection on the other end. If lessors exercise due diligence (using references, asking questions in person) instead of discriminatory and nonpredictive shortcuts (sorry credit scores and partial income sources are not indicative of character, folks), they would ‘know’ their tenants and avoid these issues.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:20:12 +0000

@Mannie — people who vandalize foreclosed houses when they leave are basically bank robbers but you’ll never see a conviction. The press and most Americans treat deadbeats who get foreclosed on as “victims” who “lost their homes.”

By: Mannie

Mannie — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:37:31 +0000

[blockquote] If violations were found, they had 5 days to correct or be evicted. It was one of the best kept Section 8 places I’d ever visited.[/quote]

That still doesn’t protect you against the tenant vandalizing the place when you evict them. And te cops don’t care. Not a whit. You should be able throw those scumbags in jail.

It’s not restricted to Section 8 housing, though. I inspect repos. A lot of foreclosed owners tear the places up when they leave, soak the carpets with urine, etc. Should be the same answer – jail time, but I ain’t holdin’ my breath.

By: Mike Soja

Mike Soja — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 03:40:58 +0000

I lived directly across the street from a Section 8 house (in Parkersburg, WV, on a working class residential street) for many years, and watched the parade of endlessly changing tenants with horror (mostly) and humor (sometimes). It was the neighborhood focus for police and even fire calls. The place was owned by a local, successful doctor, and every few months, after the most recent abandonment had occurred, the doc would show up, go inside to inspect, and come out shaking his head. Therein would follow a period of “renovation”, and then a new tenant. People in the neighborhood pleaded with the doc, sell the place, bulldoze it, anything, to no avail. He wasn’t in it for the money, and never came around to witness the atmosphere when it was occupied, and somehow believed, apparently, that it was the right thing to do. I was back there early this year, and the place was still in business.

I *never* saw any good come out of the place. Even tenants who looked like they might be trying to make a new start at first, slowly accumulated all the wrong sorts, some of whom they had probably hoped to escape by moving on up, but who inevitably and unsurprisingly showed up to share in the joy.

The one funny moment I remember was the guy (a boyfriend of the tenant) who drove an old, beat up Camaro or somesuch, who burned his tires off every single time he drove away. Quite annoying. Until the day he dumped the clutch and there was a loud *THUD*, and no squeal from the tires. He’d snapped the drive shaft. I laughed uproariously for about fifteen minutes, while I watched him and his buddies crawl underneath the car with their Bic lighters trying to see the damage. It was a couple weeks before they got that thing out of there, and no more tire burning.

By: Hikaru Katayamma

Hikaru Katayamma — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 01:33:28 +0000

I have a roommate who used to live in Section 8 housing. The contract called for monthly inspections of the rental units. If violations were found, they had 5 days to correct or be evicted. It was one of the best kept Section 8 places I’d ever visited.

He just reminded me that the initial lease was 3 months, with renewal at their discretion. Made it much easier to weed out the losers at the beginning.

By: Bob Lipton

Bob Lipton — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 00:51:46 +0000

It’s the American Dream to have a house to vandalize.

Bob