Why in the world did he participate in Section 8 housing? He acts as if the government forced this tenant on him when in fact joining Section 8 is voluntary.

To be fair, that is called a bad tenant, not a bad program. Section 8 aids a lot of people with disabilities and our aging people on social security, and the majority of them are good tenants. Now having helped paint the campus area housing for the city in which I live, I can say that college students paying $1200 a month out of pocket managed to flood a basement with 5 feet of water without any obvious leaks in the home, presumably by running a hose into the basement and deliberately flooding it.

Moral here is that bad people do bad things.

If the neighborhood is that bad, and their house payments are based on 220k versus the value of the home at 20k. I really doubt they'd make enough on rent without Section 8 to break even.

They'd either be losing money due to wear and tear on the home and it needed constant maintenance and work plus not making enough to cover all the fixed costs.

Or stuck with the fixed costs and an empty place they could let sit...that would probably end up getting broken into and vandalized if the neighborhood is that bad.


It's really difficult right now to find responsible renters in "slow recovery" areas.

Dunno if you can with Section 8, but I know I'd make em carry renter's insurance at the very least. So they are on the hook for the damage they do with a nice big corporation who can afford to go after them for the damages.


There's a reason why many of the places for rent out there are ran by huge corporations who just keep getting larger....the small guys can't afford to put up with all the bullshit problems people cause them. The big guys can effectively keep you from having a place to live if you screw up one of their properties bad enough.

As already asked, why would he allow a "mint 220k" house be a part of a Section 8 program?

Jokingly say? I find your lack of faith... disturbing.

@nock and @Jaer

I assume he was trying to be a good guy. Provide a place to live for the less fortunate and get his usual rent from the government.

Attitude of that guy and some of the commenters here is absolutely disgusting!
Section 8 had absolutely nothing to do with that tenant being a peace of shit!

It is attitude of landlords like this that makes it impossible for good people that need some financial assistance to find places to live!

My (then 86 year old) grandmother is on Section 8. We spent more than 6 months driving all over northern NJ trying to find a place for her to live because asshole bastard landlords would refuse her the moment they heard Section 8.

When she moved in landlord installed an ancient dirty, nasty refridgerator with a freezer door that would randomly open and a stove from like 70s with a 'pilot light' that would randomly go out so her kitchen is always hot and smells of gas.
Multiple complaints to the landlord were rebutted that she has to wait until they have something better and because she pays out of pocket so little, she's at the very end of the waiting list.

What difference does it make to landlords who actually pays them money?! If anything, Section 8 is better for them because they are guaranteed income!
Bad tenant will be bad regardless if they are on Section 8 or not!