Why you shouldn't rent to section 8 tenants

After renting to section 8 tenants for years I have learned a few lessons. In this video I will be covering why you should never rent to section 8 tenants.
Section 8 is a program that allows private landlords to rent apartments and homes at fair market rates to tenants who will have their rent paid for them, either partially or entirely by the government through a rental subsidy. The rent gets Paid directly to the landlord.

It sounds pretty good, but after years renting my own real estate to section 8 tenants I have discovered some major reasons why you might want to think twice before considering renting your property out to section 8 tenants.

I initially started out exclusively renting to Section 8 tenants. The rents section 8 paid were really decent, and in many cases even slightly above market value. Properties would rent quickly as there seems to be more people looking for section 8 rentals than available units. And each month rent checks would show up as expected, on time and hassle free. I was sure I had cracked the code to infinite wealth through a repeatable process by leveraging section 8. So It was my goal to keep buying real estate and continue renting it out to Section 8 tenants.
But like anything that seems to good to be true, it probably is and this was no exception. It wasn’t long until I started noticing some things I really didn’t like about the section 8 program and I am going to be sharing what I’ve learned through experience with you here.
I feel like I should though that there are certainly some good things about the Section 8 program, It’s just that the good things are not what THIS particular video is going be about.
Also I don’t want anything thinking I am suggesting that ALL section 8 tenants are bad tenants. I know some of you have had very good luck with long term section 8 tenants. It’s just not been my experience.
All I can do is share with you my experience, for whatever it’s worth, and then you can take that have more information to make your own decisions.

#section8tenants #realestateinvesting #section8realestate

[freddyflaco]

I was an inspector for 10 years and there is an unwritten rule to ALWAYS fail the first inspection

[tjable]

I am a Section 8 tenant who is disabled and have NEVER destroyed my property. I treat my rental homes the way I would want a home that I owned treated. Most of the time, if you don't treat the property right, Section 8 will disqualify you from the program. I have seen videos about what tenants have done to places and it's disgraceful. I was homeless at one point in my life and am thankful to have a home. Thank you for sharing this video.

[Landshark]

My Section 8 tenants are my best tenants. You just have to do your background checks. And check again. Seems a lot of landlords are too lazy to do this. I’m telling you, there’s great section 8 tenants out there.

[terryrosendahl]

As a Section 8 tenant, if my current landlord would fix the major issues I'd be happy.

Because I don't have any minor issues, other than the landlord complaining about annual plants being dead, and in buckets because they don't want me to have a flower garden or any type of garden.

[RJEngle]

Before I bought my house, I rented a property for 14 years. We kept the yard up. Planted flowers and rose bushes. Painted the inside every couple of years, all on my own dime. It may not have been my house but it was my home.

[brendamackinnon]

I am on Section 8 I have been since 2013. I'm a extremely clean person and I've always paid my rent on time. I've never missed a payment or I have never been late.

[loucannon]

Spent 10 years as maintenance for a property manager, out of probably 30 section 8 tenants we had only one of them that took care of the house. Every other one trashed the place and left the house full of stuff they didn’t want any more at move out. Just my experience in my area, we report them to the case manager, they don’t lose their voucher or get penalized. The worst one did about 18K worth of damage, in 9 months, to a 3, 000 square foot house in a nice neighborhood. Took the tenant to court, tenant bankrupted. It’s nice getting those checks on time but the only recourse is to go after them legally and if they trash your house you’re not going to get anything out of them even if you have a judgement. I’m sympathetic to lots of folks using the program that have already commented, just sharing my experience.

[vrijmatipersaud]

These Section8 tenants are trouble makers.
I have one who has not paid her portion rent for 15 Months
THOUSAND OF DOLLARS IN PROPERTY DAMAGES
Never seen a human being as destructive, evil, and wicked as this one.
Also Section8 does nothing about the horrible situations.
SHE KNOWS THE DRILLS WELL!!

[Lizbeth]

I'm a retired, senior, disabled lady and I've been fortunate enough to receive section 8 assistance after waiting for 2 years just to be able to apply, and another 2 years waiting to be called. Without it, I would probably be homeless. I have been told I have one of the best kept units in the building. I have never failed a single inspection, because if there is an issue, maintenance comes & fixes it right away. I'm on a fixed income, but have still maintained an 800+ credit rating. My landlord DID run a background check & DID interview me before agreeing to rent to me. I. paid my own security deposit, and if I hadn't, she wouldn't have let me move in. I don't know what area you're in, but since HUD is a federal program, all the rules are pretty much the same across the board. My state is one of 5 in the country with almost NO tenant protections. The biggest problem here is there are too many slumlords who won't fix problems, refuse to work with their renters & won't think twice before kicking old people or kids onto the street. There will always be good & bad renters, but I don't appreciate you stereotyping everyone who gets assistance as likely not good enough to rent to. Just because someone is poor, it shouldn't prevent them from having a roof over their head. Housing IS a human right, a single person who makes minimum wage can't even afford to rent a one br apt anywhere in the US. Too many landlords & businesses in this country are just too greedy & Something needs to change. Housing shouldn't be a luxury affordable only to the upper crust of our society, but that's right where we're headed!!!

[Teresa-xqut]

It's sad that you put everyone in the same category. Not all sec 8 tenants are bad. I've always treated my apt with gratitude for having it. My landlord, the property owners, and HUD have told me many times that I have the nicest and cleanest apt in our complex. I'm really proud of that. I was raised to be clean and take care of things. I got a divorce and became a single mom, so it was all I could afford. I'm so grateful for what I have. I do know that some tenants are not grateful and destroy property but please don't put us all in the same category.

When I was very young, I cleaned houses for people with money who were some of the nastiest people. One lady I babysat for was a Judge and was disgusting. She had several Cats that she let use her DINING ROOM as a litter box! They pooped all over what looked like a very expensive rug. She just threw air fresheners all over the floor! She also had a toddler living in that beautiful but fifty house. 😝😪 How much money someone has, has no factors if someone is clean or will take care of your property. Poor ppl in sec 8 can be some really great tenants and rich ppl can be disgusting.

If I were renting a house out on sec 8, I would do a home inspection as a requirement for renting from me. They don't agree to it, then they don't get considered. Our county Metro does that.

[tiger]

I want to add that the worst tenants that lived in the building I live in were University students. They repeatedly did so much damage the property manager got tired of refurbishing apts after he evicted them. He stopped renting to undergrads. This isn't one story. This went on for years, with different tenants. I've lived in my apt 30 years. Students also have raging parties every night. No exaggeration! The Section 8 tenants who live here now are friendly, quiet, and neat. The Property manager has no trouble with them.

[kensmith]

Whenever I would be looking at rental properties online I could never figure out why all the low rent places had brand new carpet, paint, appliances, etc and the middle class rentals did not. I've since discovered it's because the low rent places HAVE to replace everything after the tenants move out.

[maisies]

I'm sorry, but not all section 8 holders trash. I'm cleaner than many wealthy people. I'm poor not trashy. I'm a germofobic. I like everything clean. I don't like the of stink. I make my bed every day when I get up. My toilet is cleaned regularly. Absolutely never toilet rings . My garbage disposal doesn't stink. My counters are never dirty. Nor are my floors. I clean everyday. I'm 66 years old. I had two total knee replacement surgeries. I still got down on the floor and cleaned. Sat on stools when needed to clean. I did it and I did it alone with no help.
So don't label. I guarantee you there are millionaires who are trashy.

[nolongeranurse]

I rented to section 8 ONCE....NEVER AGAIN

[keepingitrealwithe]

I'm thankful for my landlord they was patient and very nice thru my process. I live in a beautiful 2 story 4 bed 3 bath home. Iam a awesome tenant. Rent paid on time every month regardless. Thank u lord for it..

[cdrone]

I’ve been a LL for 30 years, never section 8. Would rather take less rent. I do credit and background checks on my tenants and have never had to go to court with a tenant. The government isn’t going to tell me what to do with my property.

[candycane]

Guys Not all tenants does this only the ones who don’t have home training the rest of them really try their best to do whatever necessary to keep their voucher. And you have to understand, property have wear and tear but tenants don’t know how to fix certain things

[SectionConsulting]

I disagree with 95%, I work with 200 landlords in the US and roughly 1000 clients a year, non of which have the issues you have.

[theresafeeney]

I use to be a Sec 8 tenant and I always kept my apartment clean and paid my portion of the rent each month. Landlord would do inspections and I never failed. Not all section 8 tenants are bad and it’s unfortunate that some are.

[defenske]

Rule 1 when renting to section 8. qtr inspections and if anything is damaged that isn't normal. Evict them, the government doesn't protect them. I have it written into my leases that if they cause any damage more than $1000 in one qtr I will evict them.