Should I let this section 8 tenant extort me?
 

First things first , when this is all over, I'm getting in my Jeep, driving down to Allison Park, knocking on my partners door, and when he opens it, I am going to kick him in the balls, and then spit in his face while he is down.
He went against my will again, and bought a ****ty house in a bad area. It was a piece of shat, and I had to work my butt off to put it back together. He then had a hard time putting tenants in it, and against my will twice in a row, he put the worst of the worst section tenants in .I told him what I thought, what I was scared of, and advised him not to. He went ahead anyhow and assured me that "I got this". It played out exactly as I told him it would. I have posted about this before. It has been a year of Drama, to say the least. Their lease is up, in 3 days. They tried to strong arm us out of the lease early back in January, and live for free a few months .
My partner called me on January 6 th. this year. I am not exaggerating , he was crying, and begged me for help. Big mean nasty female section 8 tenant with 5 kids, and a drug dealing boyfriend living in the house, blew up his phone, non stop , threatened him, and called him white bread cracker motherfvker.
So then I took over, cause he basically threw it in my lap, and said he "was done, can't handle it" . She threatened me, my family , threatened to sue, threatened to turn me in to section 8, said her baby got lead poisioning, called me every racial slur in the book , she even made fun of my sister wife, and my meth lab in the trailer park. If it would not put me on ban island permanently , I would post up our text messages over the last few days, it is classic ghetto.
Long story short, they burnt us for thousands, the utilities are not paid, and the place is in shambles. She wants to move back to New York. I want her to leave.
She is trying to extort her security deposit out of me. They do not have enough money to move. She has threatened me every way possible. The calls started on Thursday. I basically called her bluff, and told her to rot in hell,. but she is a worthy opponent. She knows how to work the system, and says that she will stay till the end of summer, and make my life hell if I don't give in. If I give her her security deposit back, she said she will pack her 5 kids, and her man on the bus, and be gone on Friday.
What would you do? I'm ready to cave, $800.00, and all my problems go away. The German in me wants to tell her to bring it on, but I think that writing the check is probably the safest, end smart choice for the business. It will be far cheaper in the long run.
For the record, the rest of our places, are doing well, with long term tenants, no drama, and the rent is paid. This house was a mistake, and dealing with these people over the last 4 months has taken the wind out of my sails. I don't even know if I have the stomach to rehab it again, and I am going to have to think long and hard about moving forward with this biz, and my partner.

burn it down. collect insurance. reap benefits.

This story cemented why I won't be investing in rental properties.

Never by any house you ain't gonna live in yourself! Problem solved.

I have been there. I sold most of my placed due to exactly this type of schit. I now have a manager that collects a whopping 8%. It is worth it.

No advice except sever the tenacy. Section 8 can make a great lever as it is difficult to obtain. Perhaps you can use this to your advantage? I had some great section 8 tenants as they know you have them if they lose their entitlement.

Best of luck. Don't take this personal. It can kill you.

Larry

My sentiments exactly.

We have other section 8 tenants. They work, they partial pay, they are all nice, cordial, keep the places decent, all our interactions are generally friendly, as far as I am concerned, they can stay forever. This house has been a nightmare. It is not in the ghetto, it is just on a really hilly street, with poor access, and hard to get a decent tenant into. I wish it would burn, but I could not be so lucky . I think if we sold it off, at a loss, we would be ahead of the game. I would at least like to collect enough rent on it to cover our initial investment.

She could take the money and then not move out.

What is the bigger financial picture? Meaning, is the place already trashed, how much to rehab it, length of payback based on finding another renter, is it likely to only attract undesirable tenants, etc.

Have you talked to the Section 8 administrators in your area?

I just heard this on a radio program the other day.
Could you put the $$$ into some escrow acct. - she gets paid after she moves out?

I have thought of this, and I will not pay, until I have been at the house, seen that they are gone, and was going to have my partner give them their check,at the bus station, while I am back at the place changing the locks, and locking the place down like fort knox. Gawd I hate this biz.

Fred. Document, document, document! I really hope you've learned that and have been doing it from the time you saw problems coming. Contact this POS's case worker & keep them informed and involved with what's going on along with your intentions to get them out - and for what obvious reasons. If you give them the $800, they will probably not leave and try to extort more from you since you caved on that & your partner obviously couldn't deal with them before. Having worked with the welfare system for some time before I retired and having rental property, I vowed to never rent to anyone connected in any way with the welfare system. I did rent to one person who snuck in without me knowing she was on welfare and of course, had huge problems with her. Some landlords specialize in Section 8, but I wouldn't touch it. Good luck.

There's your answer. Man, I am so happy that I am no longer a landlord...

You ain't gonna get out of this without some pain.
Your plan is a decent one.....maybe some "seed money" to get them to the bus station....couple hundred cash or so.

BTW, there were some better options till you went public.

I thought section 8 rent payments came straight from the Gov't?

This is a comment on Liberalism!

I agree, if you pay her off she'll probably take the money and not move out.

Sell it at a loss and force them out.

Meet her at the bus station with the extortion money.
While you are doing that have your partner at the house changing locks.
For sale sign.
New partner.

Section 8 subsidizes *****ty slumlords.

They do, but it is all a case to case basis, depending on how many kids the tenants, have , and do they work, any other assistance programs. ?? size of the house etc.... You never know the exact figure of what you are going to get paid, until section 8 comes back at you with their final determination.
Most of our places, have part time working moms, with two , or three kids. We like big houses with 5 bedrooms, this scenario pays the best, and we usually find them easy to deal with.

Most or our places get say 850 ish,. with section 8 paying out 650 ish, and we have to collect the other 200 from the tenants. Even if we get burned, on their monthly cut, we are still in the green.. Oh, and the check is never late, direct deposit in our account on the 1st of every month. I have had a tenant go to jail, and serve out the last 4 months of her lease, but the check still came every month. I am not a slumlord. We had fun fixing up these old city places, and our first 3 are kind of cool old big brick Pgh CIty houses, with old woodwork ,high ceilings, and lots of character. Then we bought one that is small, but in Nice neighborhood, and made it real nice. I would live there( if I did not despise the city) . We really only throw a fluff and a buff on them, but they are decent places. This house, however, makes me feel like a slumlord. I hate it, and want no more parts of it.

greyhound tickets for the whole family to los angeles.

I'm a liberal, but after my experiences with Section 8 neighbors over the past few years, I despise the program.

There's a duplex across the street from me. The guy bought at the peak, probably could not have paid more if he tried, but he just couldn't get the damn thing rented, and it was vacant for months. Eventually he went section 8, and there has been a string of crappy tenants, each one worse than the last. Every time, they would leave the place trashed, and he would b**tch about how bad it was and how much work he had to do, yada yada yada. He finally bailed out late last year, and I'm sure he took a bath on it. I'm don't know if it is still Section 8 or not. The new renters moved in over the past couple of weeks; so far, so good, but the last few months with the place vacant has been like heaven.

Fred - it sounds like you have a crappy biz partner.

+1

This. I would hand over the cash when they are on the curb and the house is locked.

offer to buy the tickets. See what she says.

Not sure what your specific laws are but racial slurs and threats when sent via text are admissible in a court of law. Talk to the section 8 office and see what they can do.

Think of it like this, if you were the one making racist comments and threats to the tenants what would happen to you???. You have proof so use it to your advantage
repeat after me..... "I fear for the safety of my family and my personal well being" that's an important statement to make to the police- file a report now as an arrow in your quiver. Show them the texts and get documentation they have seen them. Printen verbatim in a report is a valuable document.


Please do not pay these scumbags money to leave as this will only perpetuate the epidemic. Contact the public defenders office and see if they can swing a stick at the dirt for free.

Do not give them a dime until they are gone!

I'm very familiar with Washington State's Landlord/Tenant law, and here the Landlord has 14 days to either refund the deposit, or give an itemized list of charges being deducted.

Absolute foolishness to give them anything until they are out. Assuming you have the proper move-in/move-out reports, and can legally keep the deposit, I would probably pay them to go away. Maybe not call it a deposit refund, but "I'll give you $500 cash as soon as you are out" money.

I learned one thing pretty early- Always better to look for tomorrow's money than chase yesterday's.
Do what it takes to get them out, then procceed with the new knowledge gained from this experience.

I'm very comfortable having rental properties- Because I strictly follow Landlord/Tenant law, I know that I will win.

Every time.

Maybe not today, but in the end, I will always win.

I'll just add that the $800 comes directly out of your partners pay check.

Tell them you will give the 800 to the moving company.

Turn off the utilities?

I like this.

You know anyone in the local police force? Turns out drug dealers usually don't like them.

Highly illegal. Do this, and one call to an attorney by the tenants, and they will end up owning the home after suing the landlord's butt off.

I have a fundamental problem with Section 8. You should live where you can afford to live on your own dime. I like where I live, but I'd like to live on the beach in Malibu. Imagine if I demanded YOU the tax paying public help pay for it. I used to own a house in Silverstrand which is beach property in Ventura County, CA. Three houses from the beach. A number of renters around my place were Section 8. Trash everywhere, dead cars on cinder blocks, etc.

You can't afford to live in your ghetto on your own dime, you need to move to a cheaper ghetto. Los Angeles is an expensive place to live, you can't afford it, move to another state.

that makes it hard for the rich people to get maid service, hugh

create a new corporation not including the partner and give the tenant notice.
and why aren't the tenants responsible for any damages
as a tax payer i don't want to be on the hook for their neglect.

She wants to move. She wants you to pay for her move. They have probably done more than $800 damage to your house already.

I wouldn't give her a dime. I would do my best to make her move. Print out the threats. Make copies of them and go to her Section 8 caseworker (maybe they will give her the money to move out of state). In writing describe the drug dealing you have seen. Send a copy of the threats and the drug dealing to Child and Family Services (or whatever it is called in your state) telling them you fear for the safety of the children in the house. CC Your concerns to the Section 8 caseworker. Next the police: Document that on such & such day while picking up the rent you saw her boyfriend dealing what appeared to be drugs (little white packets/money exchange). Get every ones names and titles/address's of who you talk to. CC every one what you told each of them.

The Bf is working (selling dope is a job), living with her and the kids. I wonder if he declares his earning's to the IRS? Maybe a letter to them (if you know his name) telling them of his income. That's how they got Al Capone. Is he allowed to live with her? Ask the Section 8 worker. If his name is not on the lease then GTFO.

CCW allowed in your state? Because of the threats get a CCW and buy a hip cannon (it's now a business expense). Have your partner stand on the curb with a shotgun when you go to collect the rent.

You can put up with her cr*p or call her bluff. The law is on your side. Don't get mad, get even.

I wouldn't deal with the crap you have shared with us in these threads for ANY amount of $...life is just too short. Me...I'd be getting rid of both the tenant and partner asap, cutting my losses and moving on with the rest of my life. How do you see this biz/partnership a few years down the road? Good luck Fred...sometimes being a LL sucks bad enough just dealing with normal crap...imo you've got a LOUSY partner too...you think he's gonna change?

What am I missing? Is the rent being paid? How did they burn you for thousands? If they owe you money, can't you get them evicted and the sherrif take them out?

I'd fight this. You will lose more money, but I'd be happy to play, even at cost with someone like that. You can lawyer up too, can't you?

G

Not always. In Va. the tenant has more rights in the house then the owner does. I am so glad I sold my rentals, and never had to deal with section 8.
I have a friend who got burnt by section 8 people and there was not much she could do.
I do agree, copy everything and make sure social services and local law enforcement gets copies. Put the pressure on them, and use the system as best as you can.
Then call someone from out of state to drive in and smack the dog crap out of your (hopefully) soon ex partner.

Aigel, honestly.... the fight is out of me. I'm not putting any more effort in to this . I consider myself a fairly hard shelled guy, but it is emotionally draining, and I don' want any more negativity in my life. I'm going to make my partner an offer this week. Stay tuned for the next chapter in some dramatic fastfredracing threads. I am out, hit the wall.