Renting to Section 8 Tenants...... OMFG (gated communities, paying, Florida, neighbor)

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by Campfires

Now that you know, I'm sure that will make allllll the difference. Yawn.

Law school would cost more than my income and have little payoff at my age.

[nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by ContraPagan

Replacing the batteries in smoke detectors should be the landlord's responsibility, same as any maintenance on any other appliance that comes with the apartment. That's how it works where I live. My landlord wants me to let him know when there is an issue with one of them, not try and fix it myself.

really??? the tenant cant pop for a battery to maybe, save thier own lives in case of a fire.

seriously, id never call the Ll to ask for a battery, you gotta be kidding me??

[Ultrarunner]

Section 8 Voucher bears little resemblance to the program when I first started managing property...

It really was a good program with dedicated inspectors focused on getting as many families into decent housing...

I still have a few legacy tenants but non-section 8 pays more and with a lot less red tape.

Smoke Detectors are pet peeve and I go nowhere without extra ones and batteries too...

Just part of managing rentals... one small home of 900 square feet requires 4 detectors and on my last visit 3 had the batteries pulled... makes no sense but it is what I found and more typical in families with kids... at least in my experience.

[eddie1278]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Section 8 Voucher bears little resemblance to the program when I first started managing property...

It really was a good program with dedicated inspectors focused on getting as many families into decent housing...

I still have a few legacy tenants but non-section 8 pays more and with a lot less red tape.

Smoke Detectors are pet peeve and I go nowhere without extra ones and batteries too...

Just part of managing rentals... one small home of 900 square feet requires 4 detectors and on my last visit 3 had the batteries pulled... makes no sense but it is what I found and more typical in families with kids... at least in my experience.

It's just more paperwork. Section 8 only checks to make sure things are working properly like the stove burners, windows, smoke detectors, heat etc all basic stuff that ANY renter would want to function properly.

[Oldhag1]

Originally Posted by freemkt

I had not heard of law school scholarships at the time I was an undergraduate - I thought scholarships were just for undergraduates.

Yes, just about every law school has scholarships. How could you not research how to pay for law school if you were serious about going?

[Volvo Driver]

Originally Posted by Oldhag1

Yes, just about every law school has scholarships. How could you not research how to pay for law school if you were serious about going?

If...

[ContraPagan]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

really??? the tenant cant pop for a battery to maybe, save thier own lives in case of a fire.

seriously, id never call the Ll to ask for a battery, you gotta be kidding me??

My landlord is a retired firefighter, and he doesn't want me touching the smoke detectors. He will do any maintenance that is needed. He's undoubtedly seen the outcome of improperly maintained smoke detectors in his career, and I am grateful to have a landlord that is over-diligent rather than absentee.

[freemkt]

Originally Posted by eddie1278

It's just more paperwork. Section 8 only checks to make sure things are working properly like the stove burners, windows, smoke detectors, heat etc all basic stuff that ANY renter would want to function properly.

Where I live, the heat doesn't work. You can't always get what you want.

[Volvo Driver]

Originally Posted by freemkt

Where I live, the heat doesn't work. You can't always get what you want.

Give it a rest man, seriously.

You're not going to have Cadillac accommodations while living at the shelter. And if you want something different, go out and earn it.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by eddie1278

It's just more paperwork. Section 8 only checks to make sure things are working properly like the stove burners, windows, smoke detectors, heat etc all basic stuff that ANY renter would want to function properly.

If it was only that simple...

I had a new roof installed late in the year...

The eve sheathing was replaced as I wanted the new roof to be my last.

November the annual inspection rolls around and the inspector gave me 30 days to paint...

Did I say November???

No one paints outside in the end of November into December.

Explained it would be done in the Spring and this was not good enough... it had to be done or face rent abatement... 26 years of perfect inspections and now this is a problem.

None of my regular paint contractors would touch it... it was raining and freezing temps... yet it made no difference.

Even called the city who said the unpainted areas presented no hazard of violation...

Classic red tape...

You mention stove burners...

PGE has a program where you can have your pilot lights turned off... my tenant had PGE do this on the furnace and two burners on the tenant owned stove... I got the write up and told I had to immediately repair... PGE said even though I owned the home, the utility was not in my name so they could only go by the account holder instructions...

The tenant did not want me to turn on the stove pilot lights.

Housing didn't care who did it... but if it was not done... I was facing abatement...

Decades of perfect HQS inspections matter not... it was my neck on the line...

As far as Inspections... for 25 years the inspectors gave a fixed appointment and I never missed one inspection or sent my representative.

Then the Housing Authority went to contract inspectors and they give 4 hour windows... I don't have 4 hours to waste...

All of my problems with inspections came about from contract inspections.

Move outs when a tenant moves to another jurisdiction cost me dearly... tenant had started rent in another city but was still in my home and Housing sent my payment...

I had no idea tenant had leased somewhere else and how would I?

six weeks later I get a threatening over-payment letter... this must be a mistake... I had already returned the deposit under California 21 day rule and housing wanted me to return $1100 for the time the tenant was living in my home...