What can be done about neighbors on voucher program?

[Anonymous]

Have you contacted the landlord?

[Anonymous]

OP here - they are S8 tenants. I know this because they are my neighbors and I talk to them. They have not been cooperative regarding the safety of our neighborhood in the last few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

Well that’s BS. Section 8 tenants can be evicted like anyone else for good cause, including illegal activities. Landlord is just addicted to that easy money. Maybe talk to your ANC rep to see if pressure can be put on the LL. Or talk to a lawyer and see if you can take the LL to court.

[Anonymous]

Just keep reaching out. Also alert the Mayor's office to everything you are doing/have done as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

Well that’s BS. Section 8 tenants can be evicted like anyone else for good cause, including illegal activities. Landlord is just addicted to that easy money. Maybe talk to your ANC rep to see if pressure can be put on the LL. Or talk to a lawyer and see if you can take the LL to court.

You must be new here. DC renters can draw out the eviction process for years, even with ample evidence of illegal activities, though there is a bill pending before the DC Council that aims to speed up the eviction process for renters involved in violent criminal activity. I'm sure the Charles Allens and Brianne Nadeaus of the world will oppose it, however.

[Anonymous]

Being charged with a gun crime will usually get your evicted from Section 8 housing. It is a federal law and doesn't matter if the tenant is the one charged, just has to occur on the property.

I used to work in Section 8 housing and this was an issue in senior housing with grandchildren living with grandparents and having friends over who brought guns. If the gun is on the property, the tenant/voucher holder can get evicted.

SOOOOOO next time you hear gun shots, call the police.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this is fake.

I've dealt with a similar situation, and once guns are in play, things happen. There is no way there are "random gunshots" and the city isn't taking action.

For anyone reading this who is dealing with a real problem neighbor in DC, here's what I did:

Called the police for every legal violation. Of course they rarely actually showed up, and when they did show up, they did nothing, BUT it creates a record.
Made reports of specific issues to DOB and DPW: Improper trash disposal (piled up in the backyard), rat infestations, overgrown lawn and treebox, unpermitted electrical work, illegal rooming house, rental without a business license. Every time, I explicitly requested an inspection, which they are required to do. Once an inspector comes out, the fines start rolling in.
Copied my councilmember on everything, and maintained a steady correspondence throughout. He was of course inclined to foist me off one some bored constituent services staffer, but I made myself un-ignorable.

It took six months. Once the fines got steep enough, the slumlord owner sold, a flipper bought it, and it became another generic grey family home. The new owners are lovely.

[Anonymous]

Bullets that go up must come down. Where are they coming down, OP?

Anyway, the landlord is the one to blame. They could easily evict them but they want that easy, guaranteed money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

Well that’s BS. Section 8 tenants can be evicted like anyone else for good cause, including illegal activities. Landlord is just addicted to that easy money. Maybe talk to your ANC rep to see if pressure can be put on the LL. Or talk to a lawyer and see if you can take the LL to court.

+100

I used to work with women transitioning out of shelters and these section 8 places are hard to come by so the LL could easily replace them with someone else if he were to evict them. He probably said that because the money flow has been fine for him and an eviction can be costly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

Well that’s BS. Section 8 tenants can be evicted like anyone else for good cause, including illegal activities. Landlord is just addicted to that easy money. Maybe talk to your ANC rep to see if pressure can be put on the LL. Or talk to a lawyer and see if you can take the LL to court.

+100

I used to work with women transitioning out of shelters and these section 8 places are hard to come by so the LL could easily replace them with someone else if he were to evict them. He probably said that because the money flow has been fine for him and an eviction can be costly.

Costly and time consuming. Yeah a gun charge will help speed things up, but if the landlord doesn't have hard evidence, its worthless. Right now it's minimum 6-9 months to go from filing a DC eviction case to the Marshals actually showing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you contacted the landlord?

Yes he says he has tried to get them out of the house but his hands are tied with the program

Well that’s BS. Section 8 tenants can be evicted like anyone else for good cause, including illegal activities. Landlord is just addicted to that easy money. Maybe talk to your ANC rep to see if pressure can be put on the LL. Or talk to a lawyer and see if you can take the LL to court.

+100

I used to work with women transitioning out of shelters and these section 8 places are hard to come by so the LL could easily replace them with someone else if he were to evict them. He probably said that because the money flow has been fine for him and an eviction can be costly.

Costly and time consuming. Yeah a gun charge will help speed things up, but if the landlord doesn't have hard evidence, its worthless. Right now it's minimum 6-9 months to go from filing a DC eviction case to the Marshals actually showing up.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

The best time to initiate an eviction is last year. The second best time... you get the idea.

[Anonymous]

OP here — this post isn’t fake. We have spoken to ANC, spoken to police. The last call that was made to them they said they couldn’t find the bullet casings and left. As a neighborhood we are trying our best to figure this out. How can we sue? And what’s is DOB & DPW??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, this is fake.

I've dealt with a similar situation, and once guns are in play, things happen. There is no way there are "random gunshots" and the city isn't taking action.

For anyone reading this who is dealing with a real problem neighbor in DC, here's what I did:

Called the police for every legal violation. Of course they rarely actually showed up, and when they did show up, they did nothing, BUT it creates a record.
Made reports of specific issues to DOB and DPW: Improper trash disposal (piled up in the backyard), rat infestations, overgrown lawn and treebox, unpermitted electrical work, illegal rooming house, rental without a business license. Every time, I explicitly requested an inspection, which they are required to do. Once an inspector comes out, the fines start rolling in.
Copied my councilmember on everything, and maintained a steady correspondence throughout. He was of course inclined to foist me off one some bored constituent services staffer, but I made myself un-ignorable.

It took six months. Once the fines got steep enough, the slumlord owner sold, a flipper bought it, and it became another generic grey family home. The new owners are lovely.

This post isn’t fake. We don’t know the proper channels and that is what I was asking. What is DOB and DPW??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why wasn't your subject:

What can be done about neighbors who engage in illegal activities, shoot gun throughout the night, and don't keep up the property?

Why are you focusing on how they pay their rent?

+1

This was my first thought too as I read your post (and title too!!)

Why do you have to categorize them as Section 8/voucher recipients??
How is this relative to the havoc that they are causing in your neighborhood??

Are Section 8 recipients a monolith now or what? 🤔