HELP - Section 8 house on my street!!! (Jasper: sale, apartments)

[MidCenturyMania]

Have any of you had success with dealing with section 8's in your neighborhood? Mine is an improving middle class neighborhood with beautiful trees and homes selling for $170-$300K. Dragging us down is a section 8 house on my street for two years with an overgrown lawn, dead trees and an abundance of children (appears to be multi-family) who have let the paint peel off the house and trash accumulate. Any recourse/advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

[cheryjohns]

Can you get your HOA involved? I have had investors ask me what I thought of accepting section 8. I want to note that we get rental houses in decent neighborhoods, which means strictish HOAs. A strict HOA and section 8 don't mix well - so it puts the landlord in the middle with fines, etc.

[Oildog]

Find out who the landlord is and his business address. Find out who your local councilmen/representatives are. Send letters of complaints copied to both parties. Call 311 to report lawn and trash problems. Keep records. Continue sending notices until things improve. Better if your HOA can send the notices.

[jd433]

First of all, I mean no offense to the Section 8 program or anyone who is benefiting from the Section 8 program. Now, with that said the best way to avoid section 8 is to live in a subdivision where the rents are typically above the section 8 limits.The last I checked the limits are $1334 for a 3 bedroom and $1427 for a 4 bedroom depending on the tenant and the property.

I find it hard to believe that in a subdivision where homes sale for between 170-300k that there are section 8 rentals. this would not make sense for the owner because they would have to reduce the rent to accommodate for section 8 limits.

A good way t determine if there are section 8 properties in your area is to go to GoSection8.com - Section 8 Rental Housing & Apartments Listing Service for Landlords & Tenants and type in your zip code to the search bar. If several section 8 rentals pop up that is not a good sign. Also look at what the local rents are going for. If 3 bedrooms in your neighborhood rent for more than $1350 you are probably OK. If they rent for less than the section 8 limits especially for significantly less then that is an incentive for landlords to rent to section 8.

Also I forgot which website. I thing it may be the US census or Zillow but one of them will tell you what percentage of homes in a neighborhood are rentals.

[hbcu]

group homes can bypass those regulations as they all get monthly checks that easily surpass the 1334

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by jd433

First of all, I mean no offense to the Section 8 program or anyone who is benefiting from the Section 8 program. Now, with that said the best way to avoid section 8 is to live in a subdivision where the rents are typically above the section 8 limits.The last I checked the limits are $1334 for a 3 bedroom and $1427 for a 4 bedroom depending on the tenant and the property.

I find it hard to believe that in a subdivision where homes sale for between 170-300k that there are section 8 rentals. this would not make sense for the owner because they would have to reduce the rent to accommodate for section 8 limits.

A good way t determine if there are section 8 properties in your area is to go to GoSection8.com - Section 8 Rental Housing & Apartments Listing Service for Landlords & Tenants and type in your zip code to the search bar. If several section 8 rentals pop up that is not a good sign. Also look at what the local rents are going for. If 3 bedrooms in your neighborhood rent for more than $1350 you are probably OK. If they rent for less than the section 8 limits especially for significantly less then that is an incentive for landlords to rent to section 8.

Also I forgot which website. I thing it may be the US census or Zillow but one of them will tell you what percentage of homes in a neighborhood are rentals.

One of the occasions where the landlord asked about it was where the section 8 "traveled" with the person. The applicant was coming from the NE and had an OK for rent up to $2200 per month. The landlord's normal rent was $1700-1800 - so of course he was interested in renting it for $2200. That particular subdivision has a very strict HOA - so he chose not to do it. I am nowhere near an expert on section 8 - but was very surprised to hear it could "travel" from an area that had a higher COL and still be eligible here for that. It is possible that the applicant was mistaken - but who knows. He didn't test it.

[DRob4JC]

We live next door to section 8 tenants. Hate it.

The owner used to misrepresent the square footage of his house to skirt the taxes.

[Jasper03]

Originally Posted by eyeye

God damn those poor people. Why don't they just go live in a van by the river?..

Why can't they clean up their yard and act civilized?

[slingshot]

I have nothing against people that are poor or simply having a hard time but even poor folks should be able to keep a clean yard. I have two on our street and one right behind me. The owner does not care as long as he gets the rent. He works for the dept that handles section 8 houses in my town.

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by Jasper03

Why can't they clean up their yard and act civilized?

If they are on Section 8, chances are they aren't civilized or at least very intelligent.

For the OP, you'll probably have to move eventually because Section 8 seems to spread like a highly communicable virus.