housing to rent to section 8ers? (tenants, insurance, landlord, property)

[thealfa]

Is the process hard? I was told that the money goes straight to the property owner. Let's say I bought a house and put it up for rent, section 8ers welcome, do I get the money straight from the gov? Am I responsible for house maintenance or must I write a contract stating it is the dweller's responsibility? Generally section 8ers will try to blame everything on the landlord so how does a landlord protect his interests? Get a nice insurance?

[karen_in_nh_2012]

OP, there have been a LOT of threads on C-D about Section 8 ... did you do a search?

Originally Posted by thealfa

Is the process hard?

The house would have to pass an inspection by the city's Housing Authority. I don't know if you have to have prospective tenants before they will do the inspection, or you can just call them and ask for one. I'm sure others will chime in, but you could also, you know, call your local office.

Originally Posted by thealfa

I was told that the money goes straight to the property owner. Let's say I bought a house and put it up for rent, section 8ers welcome, do I get the money straight from the gov?

AFAIK the government portion of the rent is paid directly to the LL; the tenants pay the rest to the LL.

Originally Posted by thealfa

Am I responsible for house maintenance or must I write a contract stating it is the dweller's responsibility?

Normally the LL would be responsible for house maintenance, although it depends on how you define "maintenance." EG my tenants (not section 8) are responsible for things like mowing the lawn, changing oil furnace filters in the winter, snow-blowing, etc. Of course they are NOT responsible for things like a furnace dying, a toilet leaking, etc. unless somehow they caused those things (which is unlikely).

Originally Posted by thealfa

Generally section 8ers will try to blame everything on the landlord so how does a landlord protect his interests? Get a nice insurance?

This ^^^ is how you see Section 8 tenants ... yet you want to rent to them AND you think they should be responsible for "house maintenance"? If you think so poorly of them, why would you want THEM to be responsible for maintaining your house?

And what is "a nice insurance"? My LL insurance (which is different from my homeowner's insurance) wouldn't cover damage that my tenants do to my property (but of course this is why I screen my tenants and choose responsible people).

Sounds like you think Section 8 is "free money" from the government to you but you don't really want to be a Section 8 LL, as in having to deal with Section 8 tenants. (Lots of horror stories about them, but also lots of elderly people who depend on the program and who often are ideal tenants.)