NEW Updated Section 8 Payment Standards (Bad for the Bronx!!!) (low income, apartments)

[ConservativeBXguy]

Below are the newly updated Section 8 Payment Standard for Section 8 tenants effective October 1, 2010. The Section 8 Payment Standards is the most Section 8 is willing to pay a landlord for an apartment.


Number of Bedrooms: 0 (studio) Section 8 Payment: $1,283

Number of Bedrooms: 1 Section 8 Payment: $1,387

Number of Bedrooms: 2 Section 8 Payment: $1,543

Number of Bedrooms: 3 Section 8 Payment: $1,899

Number of Bedrooms: 4 Section 8 Payment: $2,135

Number of Bedrooms: 5 Section 8 Payment: $2,455



This here poses a HUGE threat to the quality of life in the Bronx because Landlords will be more willing to (for financial reasons) rent to a Section 8 tenant because they pay more for the apartment than to rent to a regular (non-program) middle class, working person who is not willing to pay that much for a Bronx apartment.

This horrible trend has already started and is getting worst. An overwhelming amount of Section 8 people from other boroughs that have been priced-out, have been moving north to the Bronx with their vouchers.

It seems that the City wants the Bronx to become the dumping ground for all the undesirable Section 8 tenants that were rejected from the other boroughs in order to clean up or gentrify those boroughs. They purposely raise the payment standard to ENTICE Bronx landlords to accept Section 8 tenants. These Section 8 payment standard amounts are totally inflated and about $300 ABOVE real Bronx market rents.

IMO, the future of the Bronx doesn't look good as this trend will create a densely populated borough of low income Section 8 people (as if it wasn't bad enough) that bring along crime and other bad habits to further BLIGHT the Bronx.

Instead of the Bronx moving forward via gentrification/revitalization, the Bronx is taking steps backwards which makes it that much harder to fix if they ever decide to clean up the Bronx from the undesirables.

[Doobage]

My opinion doesn't mean much since I'm not a landlord. But from what I've been reading here, I don't think most landlords will be swayed by any amount of money to rent to a Section 8 tenant. I could be wrong, though.

[bluedog2]

Originally Posted by Doobage

My opinion doesn't mean much since I'm not a landlord. But from what I've been reading here, I don't think most landlords will be swayed by any amount of money to rent to a Section 8 tenant. I could be wrong, though.

I think I kind of agree.

Only one of the dozen or so rental buildings in my immediate neighborhood seems to have any section 8 tenants.When the others advertise they state "no programs accepted" or list rental qualifications that make it quite clear, like "must be employed,earning 40x rent, with high credit score and no housing court history.References will be checked." Even with all of this, I think the vacancy rate is very,very low and apartments rent quickly.The section 8 rent limits have always been higher and it hasn't made a difference so I'm not sure making them even higher will.

Also,not sure about the future of section 8 at all.Currently there is a freeze on new applications and I wouldn't be surprised,given the current economic climate and political mood,if the freeze isn't on for a lot longer than anyone expects.

There has also been a general equalizing of rents in city neighborhoods outside of the hot zones in the last 5 years or so ,so increasing section 8 payments could result in some people whose only option might have been The Bronx a few years ago now having more options.

[Sarah2k9]

Everyone here says section 8 tenants are the bottom of the low. How are they compare to those NYCHA tenants?

No one has talked about project based section 8. I have a friend who lives in a section 8 building downtown for 5 years and never know what a voucher looks like.

[latikeriii]

I agree with the above, Section 8 tenants are definitely above public housing tenants(no offense). Project-based Section 8 is still pretty much available depending on the waiting lists. Tenant-based vouchers are the ones that have been restricted as of late. Honestly, the South Bronx will continue to gentrify and probably won't be affected and the North/East Bronx won't change any.

[Raymond Stereo]

Sucks that the genuinely good Section 8 tenants, such as myself and my mother, have to suffer due to the overall reputation of the program and it's recipients. My mother's been receiving Section 8 assistance for almost 30 years now, and in that time she's been able to complete her undergrad at CUNY Hostos and City, single-handedly raise me and my older brother, see my brother off to a successful career in the Marines. Because of S8, I'm more than halfway through completing my undergrad as well, without the stress of high rent looming over me (something that's stunted the college careers of many my age, and I don't blame them). Proud to say that my family has made good use of the program, yet we each haven't gone far enough to keep our heads above water with the non-S8 rent in most of the city........hopefully that'll change with me.

[goodlife36]

I do not understand why these people get to live better than working people. Aren't we in a recession? $1899 for a 3 bedroom? Do you know how much money you need to make to pay $1899 for rent? This is disgusting. I will never rent my place to a section 8 person. I do not care how much money they give. Benefits are there to help people in time of need not to help them live better than working people who pay taxes.

I just sent an e-mail to Bloomberg to voice my disgust. I feel much better now.

[ConservativeBXguy]

Originally Posted by bluedog2

I think I kind of agree.

Only one of the dozen or so rental buildings in my immediate neighborhood seems to have any section 8 tenants.When the others advertise they state "no programs accepted" or list rental qualifications that make it quite clear, like "must be employed,earning 40x rent, with high credit score and no housing court history.References will be checked." Even with all of this, I think the vacancy rate is very,very low and apartments rent quickly.The section 8 rent limits have always been higher and it hasn't made a difference so I'm not sure making them even higher will.

Also,not sure about the future of section 8 at all.Currently there is a freeze on new applications and I wouldn't be surprised,given the current economic climate and political mood,if the freeze isn't on for a lot longer than anyone expects.

There has also been a general equalizing of rents in city neighborhoods outside of the hot zones in the last 5 years or so ,so increasing section 8 payments could result in some people whose only option might have been The Bronx a few years ago now having more options.

Yes there are some landlords that refuse to take in Section 8 tenants (rightfully so) no matter how high Section 8 is willing to pay for an apartment. These landlords are unfortunately in the minority.

Usually these landlords own 1 or 2 buildings managed by themselves and family memebers. They usually have some type of sentimental value attached to their buildings with plans on passing it on to the next generation. Hence, they are passionate about the quality of tenants they rent to.

The ABSENTEE landlord who usually owns several buildings and who solely views their buildings as investment vehicles with NO feelings attached to them are typically the ones who want the most for their rentals and rent to Section 8 tenants. Not because they like the quality of tenants Section 8 has to offer but simply because they'll pay much more in rent than a regular non-program tenant. These type of ABSENTEE landlords make up the majority of landlords in the Bronx.

These landlords don't care about the neighborhood and the type of tenants they rent to. All they care about is having positive cashflow at the expense of the building/neighborhood.

They usually hire a property management company to fill their vacancies and handle repairs. These property management companys get paid 6% of the monthly rent roll. So if the monthly rent roll for a building is 80K then the management company gets paid $4,800 a month. The more you can rent an apartment for, the more money the property manager gets. So why not rent to a Section 8 tenants who pays top dollar for an apartment so you (the property manager) can give yourself a raise at the end of the month? See the incentive?

And if you think I'm lying, go to the Bronx section of craigslist (rentals by owner) and simply read the title of the listings and you'll see that the majority of the listings try to cater to Section 8/program people. You'll find more listing soliciting Section 8/program people than listing targeting regular working folks. This is the monster the City has created. Make it financially attract so that landlords will rent to these people.

To add insult to injury, 2 years ago democratic Governor to be Andrew Cuomo introduced a bill which passed that prohibitted landlords from denying tenants because they were on Section 8.

Prior to this bill, a landlord could SPECIFICALLY write on a craigslist ad "NO PROGRAMS ACCEPTED" or "NO SECTION 8 PEOPLE" and it was totally legal. This was done by landlords purposely to deter those type of people from inquiring about their apartments hence, keeping the riff-raff out by preserving as well as reserving your building for only regular working folks.

Now if you write that on your craigslist ad, your post gets flagged and removed and you could possibly get sued as it is now considered "discrimination". NYC is actually the ONLY city in the U.S. that has this stupid law. You can thank democrat Cuomo for that one. If this is a sign for things to come, I'm affraid to see what else he has under his sleeves once he takes office as governor.

[jen5276]

[quote=ConservativeBXguy;16563536]Yes there are some landlords that refuse to take in Section 8 tenants (rightfully so) no matter how high Section 8 is willing to pay for an apartment. These landlords are unfortunately in the minority.

Usually these landlords own 1 or 2 buildings managed by themselves and family memebers. They usually have some type of sentimental value attached to their buildings with plans on passing it on to the next generation. Hence, they are passionate about the quality of tenants they rent to.

The ABSENTEE landlord who usually owns several buildings and who solely views their buildings as investment vehicles with NO feelings attached to them are typically the ones who want the most for their rentals and rent to Section 8 tenants. Not because they like the quality of tenants Section 8 has to offer but simply because they'll pay much more in rent than a regular non-program tenant. These type of ABSENTEE landlords make up the majority of landlords in the Bronx.

These landlords don't care about the neighborhood and the type of tenants they rent to. All they care about is having positive cashflow at the expense of the building/neighborhood.

They usually hire a property management company to fill their vacancies and handle repairs. These property management companys get paid 6% of the monthly rent roll. So if the monthly rent roll for a building is 80K then the management company gets paid $4,800 a month. The more you can rent an apartment for, the more money the property manager gets. So why not rent to a Section 8 tenants who pays top dollar for an apartment so you (the property manager) can give yourself a raise at the end of the month? See the incentive?

And if you think I'm lying, go to the Bronx section of craigslist (rentals by owner) and simply read the title of the listings and you'll see that the majority of the listings try to cater to Section 8/program people. You'll find more listing soliciting Section 8/program people than listing targeting regular working folks. This is the monster the City has created. Make it financially attract so that landlords will rent to these people.

To add insult to injury, 2 years ago democratic Governor to be Andrew Cuomo introduced a bill which passed that prohibitted landlords from denying tenants because they were on Section 8.

Prior to this bill, a landlord could SPECIFICALLY write on a craigslist ad "NO PROGRAMS ACCEPTED" or "NO SECTION 8 PEOPLE" and it was totally legal. This was done by landlords purposely to deter those type of people from inquiring about their apartments hence, keeping the riff-raff out by preserving as well as reserving your building for only regular working folks.

Now if you write that on your craigslist ad, your post gets flagged and removed and you could possibly get sued as it is now considered "discrimination". NYC is actually the ONLY city in the U.S. that has this stupid law. You can thank democrat Cuomo for that one. If this is a sign for things to come, I'm affraid to see what else he has under his sleeves once he takes office as governor.[/quote]


Unbelievable, but I guess the solution would be not to advertise that you won't take Sec 8, but to simply not rent to the person that has it. It sucks because then you have to weed through more people, but at least there is an option!

[Sarah2k9]

Originally Posted by goodlife36

I do not understand why these people get to live better than working people. Aren't we in a recession? $1899 for a 3 bedroom? Do you know how much money you need to make to pay $1899 for rent? This is disgusting. I will never rent my place to a section 8 person. I do not care how much money they give. Benefits are there to help people in time of need not to help them live better than working people who pay taxes.

I just sent an e-mail to Bloomberg to voice my disgust. I feel much better now.

Section 8 is a federal program. Bloomberg plays no part of it. You better write to Obama and our Senators.