Landlords: How do I get section 8 renters to stop pestering me?
 

I've had a vacancy in New Mexico for the past few months. I field around 5 phone calls a day, most of which are people desperately looking for Section 8 housing. I know I can't state that I do not accept Section 8 in my ads. So, how do I stop these government mooches from wasting my time?

You just state "Your income must be XXX amount of the rent." Works every time for me.

Must pass credit check.

$400 application fee.

Parasites need not apply?

Then consider yourself very, very, VERY lucky. The lady that sits next to be at work saw the other side of section 8 renters. 11 months, $1000's of dollars, a lawyer and 4 courts trips later, they were gone.

For out town landlords, use a Property Manger Just to get the place advertised and the new renters moved in. Mine charges one months rent for their fee. For that, they:

Advertise
Show
Background/credit checks
Write the Contract
Collect damage deposit and 1st months rent.

At that point, I cut them loose and take over the Mgt myself.....Very happy with the results. I have gotten great tennats both times I've used them. The lastest has been there 5 years and is now in the process of buying the house; Close date of Sept. 1.

^^
My uncle owns an apartment complex in wa state for the last 30 or so years. He's very old fashioned, and will not rent to allot of different types of people. He's not racist, he just knows how to keep the drama out of the complex, and people from destroying the units.

+1 on the application fee/background check fee. Never tell prospective renter it's available, you'll back Yourself in a corner if they feel you discriminated...

Credit/employment check with $50 non-refundable fee (or whatever the going rate is now), followed by first month, last month, deposit, and pet deposit (if applicable).

Section 8'ers will simply move along. In addition, the above also served well at filtering out the deadbeats who are one or three levels above the section 8'ers too.

This sounds good, thanks.

I've already learned that single mothers with 4 or more kids simply demolish my properties.

Wow, you must live in an owner's market. Those kind of $$$ upfront requirements would never fly in Albuquerque. Tenants will move out of the home if you raise the rent by $50 a month.

I have not done the $50 credit check but have done well with just employment check, first, last, and pet deposit if applicable.

I only have the one rental house and I think even with government assistance it is still out of section 8 price range so we don't see any applications from them.

Regarding the above in bold: Why not? If you haven't already, I would confirm whether or not the applicable state/local/municipal housing authorities actually have an anti-discrimination law in place regarding sec.8 tenants. Some states/cities/municipalities do, but many do not, and there is no federal law stating that you can't discriminate against sec.8 tenants.

Thats the way things are here in AZ right now. PM companies are going crazy with fees, and tenants are just bending over and taking it. Rents are running a few hundred more than a mortgage payment too usually. Its nuts right now.

The $400 application fee is actually what a current tenant paid before he found me.
I've seen ads for $1,250/mo to share a room.
Insane in this town and bubble conditions.

$25-50 is pretty standard around here and shows they are motivated. It can be refunded.
If they bawk at that, expect more trouble later on.

I stay on the low side of the market but then again I'm not a good businessman. For the most part I've had excellent customers, and I like to see them succeed, but I let a tenant who I actually liked personally slide again and again. This turned into a game. All kinds of random demands, holes in things at departure, and a screaming fest on the phone. He took out his life frustrations on the nice guy helping him. That hurt.

Assuming the security deposit is equal to one month's rent, those move-in costs wouldn't fly here either (first + last + security deposit + pet deposit), and you wouldn't be allowed to request/require that much. Here you can only collect up to 1.5x base rent in "deposits" so it's typically first month's rent + security deposit, which is equal to 1 month's rent. You can tack on a cleaning and/or pet deposit as well, but must keep everything considered to be a "deposit" under 1.5x rent. The loophole here is with "fees". You can charge non-refundable cleaning and/or pet "fees" that are not considered in the 1.5x calculation. Also, there is nothing here that forbids tenants from volunteering additional up-front rent, but it should be clearly articulated in writing that it is NOT a requirement or condition of acceptance to lease by the landlord.

You may want to try section 8, it's awesome. If I could do it, every tenant would be section 8...

They pay more than market rent...

Guaranteed payment...

The tenant only pay what they can afford. So no issues if bills go up or they lose their job.

They never move...

They get subsidies for utilities...

If they so much as litter, I just call housing and they get on it...

If they get evicted, they lose their housing permanently...

If they move, and don't get a good reference from you, they lose their housing...

The list goes on.

Screen them like you would any tenant. Check credit and references... Then, go for it. I screen 18-20 tenants to find a good one.

Section 8 rocks. Great way to wealth...

Bo

The Section 8 renters in my neighborhood just bought a new '15 Suburban.

Tell them there is a mandatory drug test, credit check, and criminal background check including sex offender and child support violations.

Gone through a Section 8 eviction yet? Good times.

My Section 8 tenant - with her 3, 4 or 5 kids (who could keep track?) also got utility subsidies. She just figured that the crack was more important than the natural gas and electricity, so when the yearly inspection came around (I think it was in the month of Nov) - I got a 4 page listing of all of the issues. This included no hot water, no heat, etc. In order to pass inspection - I had to evict her since utilities wouldn't allow me to pay to have them back on as a "delinquent customer can't benefit from their services." And since SHE got the utility subsidy, there was no way for me to receive it instead and make sure that the utilities got paid. Otherwise, it was cash flow of $175/month, and the check showed up EVERY month a few days early!

Been a landlord for 15 years, own 24+ units...

I evict 1-2 folks every couple years... I have never had to evict a section 8 tenant... perhaps I am lucky?

Most of the time eviction is for nonpayment... thats not an issue with Section 8, as the tenant usually pays $100, and Section 8 pays $750 (3bdr)

In our area there is a 3 year wait to be on section 8. And if you misbehave, you lose it...

If you have access to good tenants, that are credit worthy, with great jobs, then that is the best tenant. In most areas I have found that finding good tenants is really tough. Most folks with jobs are barely scraping by.

Section 8 tenants need to be vetted just like any other tenant. There are the good, and the bad. In Wisconsin there is a website that lists every interaction a person has had with the legal system. Its free, and its awesome!!! It list every eviction, lawsuit, speeding ticket, nonpayment of utility, drunk driving, drug possesion, yada, yada, yada...

I don't know if any other state has this?

The first thing I do is clear the potential tenant through this website. That weeds out 95% of folks.

Then, I do a credit check... that weeds out about 1/2 of those left.

The rest, are very good tenants...

Some of the credit check agencies do criminal backgroundchecks for a fee. They are not nearly as detailed as Wisconsin's website...

Google "Wisconsin Circuit Court Access." Peruse it. See if your state has something similar...

Its FREE!

Bo

I wouldn't say it's an owners market. But there is a lot of demand her in central FLA. As with anything property related, location, location, location is the key.

I totally agree, the requirements are demanding. But that is intentional so as to weed out problem people. In fact they are so demanding that we were not able to go at it ourselves in finding the renters. We went through a broker. Finders fees are very motivating. That was some years ago. We've still got the same renters and they pay. The finders fee was money well spent IMO.

As to renter flight, we do review rent on an annual basis, we monitor the rents for comparable properties and set it just lower than the competition. The first time we raised the rent ($75/month increase) they pulled the crap of I can't afford that so we're not renewing. So I pull out the analysis and show them that the only way they are going to get the same rent or better is to downgrade to a lesser property.
A few days to let that soak in and bingo, they suddenly could afford it!