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When I started college I moved to an apartment complex that also served Section 8 renters and the place was a dump - and it was barely five years old. I used to shake my head at all the super nice well-kept cars in the parking lot but saw garbage strewn around the complex, broken toys and appliances left in carports, front doors covered with footprints and broken windows taped back up. The mailboxes got broken into so often that the management had the Post Office deliver it all to them and they started handing it out to everyone from the front office. It was a crummy place to call home. Kids ran wild up and down the stairs unsupervised all hours of the day and night. I had neighbors constantly knocking on my door and asking for things ... milk, eggs, sugar, toilet paper, even money for gas one time. It just got ridiculous, and when my lease was up I got the heck out of there. I moved into another complex just a few minutes up the road and it was a HUGE improvement ... despite being just another complex of the same approximate size. Not surprisingly, the second complex did not accept Section 8. This personal experience of mine shaped my opinion of Sec 8 and well, it just is what it is.
I see the same things around my town, I'm always curious though as to the reasons some people happen to be the way they are. Over the years I've know a lot of poor people and some have developed a lack of caring, whether it's their car, dwelling, even lack of care for personal cleanliness. I wonder how many people think that this lack of caring may stem from some causes other than those we ascribe to lazyness. We are going to reside in the best manner affordable to us, those of us that can and want to, however, I know that moving down the road may remove me from the less desireables but at the end of the day they're still with us, just down the road. Are their numbers growing? if so, how far down that road are we going to have to move?
I personally lived in section 8 housing. I took great care of the place i lived in but found it totally disturbing having so many "weird" people live around me. My neighbor upstairs just up and moved one night. Come to find out she totally tore the place up and let her little kids ride their trikes in a circle around the living room and ruined the carpet. My next door neighbor never had a vacuum and used mine about one a month. In the summer I saw her bbqing in her living room with a charcoal grill. Who does that? She also filled her kids pool and let them have a beach party in the winter in the lving room. I moved from that place as soon as my year was up. I don't want my child exposed to those kinds of ideas. Right or wrong that is just the way I think. Not everyone who lives in section 8 lets things go to hell but too many do and they make it hard on people who are trying to make it out there. BTW I has just separated from my husband and was going to school and working as much as I could.
My criteria for apartments is my fellow renters have to make as much as I do. That's about it. I don't care about race, religion or sexual preference. People want the nicest place they can afford so you are all vested in keeping it a certain way.
I see the same things around my town, I'm always curious though as to the reasons some people happen to be the way they are. Over the years I've know a lot of poor people and some have developed a lack of caring, whether it's their car, dwelling, even lack of care for personal cleanliness.
There are no easy answers to this social dilemna but my take is that many poor people perpetuate a substandard living because they come from an environment with certain conventions (it's ok to litter, graffiti on apartment walls doesn't even warrant a second look, broken-down cars are left on streets forever, dwelling interiors are often damaged and never repaired, etc.) and they carry that convention with them when they move into newer, nicer neighborhoods. Rather than subscribe to the new standard that is prevalent in the neighborhood that they move to, they become angry and defensive when confronted with the expectation that they follow suit, and feel insecure and prejudiced against for having the issue even brought up. They simply fail to understand that having everyone adopt the new standard is what makes and keeps a neighborhood clean and pleasant. So what you end up with are new apartment complexes torn to shreds within years of construction ... entire neighborhoods turned into ghettos in short periods of time, 'white flight' of subdivisions, etc.
Why that convention even exists in the first place is a whole 'nother debate.
I own a 2 family house & had a section 8 when we bought it. I bought the whole idea that it'll be fine, the state always pays, the girls been here for years ect. Well we found out real quick why the upstairs apartment was always vacant. She thought it was her house & started right off telling me the rules ect. I tried to straighten her out, explaining that the ONLY reason she was still here was because I let her stay. Turned out she was a crack head with a lunatic boyfriend and 9 year old girl. After we had the cops here a few times it dawned on someone that the man was living here and she threatened me if she lost section 8. After a year of this nonsense we tried to raise the rent to a realistic figure and the state said no. That pissed her off & she said she was moving. Then the state issued her a voucher for $1200 a month even though they wouldn't let us raise it to $800.
I'm glad she is gone & will never deal with that scenerio again. I want tennants who pay their own bills & who have their own money tied up in security deposits.
I agree with Omaha Rock's comments. When you don't own the dwelling you live in, you have zero vested interest, and this is generally reflected in the condition of apartment complexes and homes that serve renters. There are certainly exceptions to this rule however, and many renters take great pride in the condition of their apartment/home. It's been my own experience however that Section 8 properties are beat up pretty bad by the majority of their renters and I do feel there is a correlation in general between low income renters and a lack of care for the property they live in. We could debate the reasons why this may or not be all day long, but the fact remains that Section 8 housing has a bad reputation for a reason.
These comments are scaring me. I am a new landlord with an old mobile home that wife and I are remodeling and are going to meet with the housing authority today to qualify for renting to section 8.
We met 50 something lady and 17 yr old son and she loved what we were doing to trailer and kept saying how lucky she was to not have to live under a bridge or in car somewhere.
There apt. complex is being closed and displacing 22 families by Feb 1, 2010 and housing is very tight here. So hopefully we can help and we well not charge higher rent even if we can. I have been poor and am on fixed income now so know what it is like to be homeless. I have never trashed a place either.
My parents rented there nice house in Florida for 1000.00/mo cash and tennent was always on time with rent. Well groomed and neighbors loved him. When he left 1 yr later he had done over 20,000.00 damage to house with misting water hoses inside of house to water his marijuana growing buisness.
I plan on inspecing property once a month so wish me luck!
These comments are scaring me. I am a new landlord with an old mobile home that wife and I are remodeling and are going to meet with the housing authority today to qualify for renting to section 8.
We met 50 something lady and 17 yr old son and she loved what we were doing to trailer and kept saying how lucky she was to not have to live under a bridge or in car somewhere.
There apt. complex is being closed and displacing 22 families by Feb 1, 2010 and housing is very tight here. So hopefully we can help and we well not charge higher rent even if we can. I have been poor and am on fixed income now so know what it is like to be homeless. I have never trashed a place either.
My parents rented there nice house in Florida for 1000.00/mo cash and tennent was always on time with rent. Well groomed and neighbors loved him. When he left 1 yr later he had done over 20,000.00 damage to house with misting water hoses inside of house to water his marijuana growing buisness.
I plan on inspecing property once a month so wish me luck!
You should be fine - and the best of luck to you!
Just keep in mind that you're living in a smaller, more rural area. Rentals are very different there than in the middle of an urban area.
Hey buddy, are you still coming to Omaha for some medical procedures in the near future? Let me know what we can do to help!
Just keep in mind that you're living in a smaller, more rural area. Rentals are very different there than in the middle of an urban area.
Hey buddy, are you still coming to Omaha for some medical procedures in the near future? Let me know what we can do to help!
Yes I am coming that way but to Lincoln. My DR. recommended a Dr. Yung. I am trying to get some decent supplemental insurance along with my medicare so I won't owe as much after all procedures are done.
They also have options for transportation here in McCook to get there besides Amtrack. There is a shuttle that goes several times a week so that is a great option for us.
We do plan on doing some sightseeing and shopping in Omaha in future since I have only driven thru and not stopped.
I'm really between on Section 8 and I'm looking for other people's people input on this situation.
First of all, can someone tell me exactly how this works?
My partner and I live in a 1 bedroom apartment. We both work fulltime jobs and we make around $70K between the 2 of us. We have 1 car, no kids..and no credit cards. So, at the end of the month we do have disposable money. (A house is planned for the future!)
We are moving when our lease is up, because there is now too much Section 8 here and the crime rate has increased. This isn't some opinion--we SEE cops here more often. We SEE the vandalsim. We SEE the weed bags all over the stairwells. We SEE the human pee in the elevator ()
I hate to generalize, but I'll be looking for places that are strictly no Section 8.
Here's where the debate part is. Why does Section 8 seem to give people so much money? I was looking on Craigslist and this lady posted an ad looking to live in a certain area (where the Section 8 voucher was good for, apparently) and would get $1300 a month for 3 bedrooms. She said she has 2 kids.
I am not against helping people. I am DEF not against helping children--but when is helping out too much? When does it cross the line?
The reason why I ask this is because..well..why should this lady and her kids live in a better and more comfortable apartment? Let's be honest here--would she NEED 3 bedrooms? I don't think so. (BTW, I am not totally focusing on this one chick, as it can refer to anyone). You can answer and say "Well, she HAS 2 kids!"..but do the kids REALLY NEED their own room?
Shouldn't help like this.. be minimal? People need a roof over their heads. They don't NEED to live in gorgeous homes/apartments. Why is there such a feeling/(demand?) of entitlement?
I just think that people whom are in crappy situations should not be living better than people whom are in better situations. How is this fair?
I'm curious as if other people share a similar view, or if I am totally out in the dark on this one.
I think $1300.00 is in excess, but I guess it depends on where you live. Where I live in a rural town that kind of money will get you a very nice, large home. The govt housing around here consist of smaller dwellings that pretty much all look the same. I think the people take relatively good care of the properties. I would not be afraid to walk around these neighborhoods at night.
As for the 3 bedroom apt, If she has two children and they are different sexes she may have to get a 3 bedroom by law.
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