Has anyone rented to a section 8 tenant or been a section 8 renter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

Has to be. Section 8 comes out and physically inspects the unit so they would notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

Has to be. Section 8 comes out and physically inspects the unit so they would notice.

Maybe PP's housekeeper WAS a Sec 8 renter and now she just rents from PP at the Sec 8 rate instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

NP here. Is this true? I do not rent out my basement (and do not plan to) but I did not know it was illegal. What is illegal about it?

Well many things. Unless the PP has the property licensed as an SRO rooming house, that basement would have to be certified as a "unit." There are certain legal requirements regarding ingress and egress and plumbing. I guess PP could say that the family are her roomates, but there are restrictions on that also. Aside from that, there may also be contractual restrictions in the mortgage that disallow it. And no way, would renting out your basement pass a Section 8 unit UNLESS it is set up like a separate residence itself - basement apartment - duplex, etc. .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

NP here. Is this true? I do not rent out my basement (and do not plan to) but I did not know it was illegal. What is illegal about it?

Well many things. Unless the PP has the property licensed as an SRO rooming house, that basement would have to be certified as a "unit." There are certain legal requirements regarding ingress and egress and plumbing. I guess PP could say that the family are her roomates, but there are restrictions on that also. Aside from that, there may also be contractual restrictions in the mortgage that disallow it. And no way, would renting out your basement pass a Section 8 unit UNLESS it is set up like a separate residence itself - basement apartment - duplex, etc. .

So basically if its up to code it's fine? What about that show Income Property?

[Anonymous]

As a landlord I have learned to check up on the house and write into the lease a quarterly inspection. that would strongly be enforced with a section 8 tenant.

I have maintenance requirements. My lease has scared off a lot of potential slobs. I would not accept lease terms other than my own. I had an attorney draw up my agreement.

[Anonymous]

I worked for a property management company that managed dozens of Section 8 properties in DC. The tenants mostly destroyed the properties and continuously sued the landlords trying to make money because they fell down an "unsafe" stairwell while they were drunk or similar. Most of the tenants reminded me of the characters from the movie "Precious". I will get ready to be flamed, but you would not believe what went on there. I am sure not all tenants are like this, but you asked for experiences....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a property management company that managed dozens of Section 8 properties in DC. The tenants mostly destroyed the properties and continuously sued the landlords trying to make money because they fell down an "unsafe" stairwell while they were drunk or similar. Most of the tenants reminded me of the characters from the movie "Precious". I will get ready to be flamed, but you would not believe what went on there. I am sure not all tenants are like this, but you asked for experiences....

Any positive experiences you can share? You said mostly so there must have been some who didn't destroy and who didn't fit racial stereotypes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for a property management company that managed dozens of Section 8 properties in DC. The tenants mostly destroyed the properties and continuously sued the landlords trying to make money because they fell down an "unsafe" stairwell while they were drunk or similar. Most of the tenants reminded me of the characters from the movie "Precious". I will get ready to be flamed, but you would not believe what went on there. I am sure not all tenants are like this, but you asked for experiences....

Any positive experiences you can share? You said mostly so there must have been some who didn't destroy and who didn't fit racial stereotypes.

There were some who only trashed their places minimally. I do not recall any tenants who respected the property. These were not working poor. These people did not have jobs.

[Anonymous]

OP following closely - hadn't considered the potential effort/expense associated with frivolous law suits. Hmmm....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP following closely - hadn't considered the potential effort/expense associated with frivolous law suits. Hmmm....

This is the case with any property ownership.

A relative owns 4 duplexes in Baltimore. He lived in one, was renting the other side and bought the other 3 when his neighborhood was hit by foreclosures. He hoped to just stabilize the block and help his own property values from sliding further. His renters were not on Section 8 or even working poor, but he was sued twice. Once by a tenant who slipped in the shower while having sex with her boyfriend. Once by a tenant's visitor who lost the tip of his finger when the door slammed on it when he was helping the tenant move in. Both were young, middle class whites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

NP here. Is this true? I do not rent out my basement (and do not plan to) but I did not know it was illegal. What is illegal about it?

If your neighborhood is zoned for single family residences, you can't create an apartment unit out of your house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

Has to be. Section 8 comes out and physically inspects the unit so they would notice.

Maybe PP's housekeeper WAS a Sec 8 renter and now she just rents from PP at the Sec 8 rate instead

Yes, we rent out our walk-out basement at less-than what this lovely family used to pay under Section 8. The mother had been our once-weekly housekeeper for years, when her family ran into some issue with their Section 8 housing. She asked me if they could please move in for a few weeks until they could remedy the situation, but it worked out well and they asked to stay for a year. The family is from Guatemala, here legally, and I am a different Latin American nationality, so we get along well. Any work done by our housekeeper or her husband is paid by us at a rate of $23/ hr. We also agree to babysit her children once a week for free, so that she and her husband can have a night out. We always pay them, however, if they sit for our child. I am glad that our house sits back behind a wall of landscaping, because I can sense that there is a good deal of disapproval from this thread.

[Anonymous]

Also, both parents work outside our house, and she continues her once-weekly cleaning (paid at $23/ hour) and they help with the occasional maintenance or odd- job (also paid for).

[Anonymous]

Generous and good-hearted. Whatsoever you do, that you do onto me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in one of the nicer 22101 neighborhoods - off GP - and we recently rented out the entire walk-out basement of our 7500 + sq ft house to our housekeeper, her husband, and their three children - who are section 8 tenants. It is a win-win for everyone. They live in a great neighborhood, and will send their children to the Ch-C-L pyramid, and we have a live-in handyman and housekeeper available at night, when they have finished their outside jobs. I think one of our neighbors is starting to get suspicious, and I am certain that they neighborhood would not generally approve, but the family needed a place to live and are truly great people.

Is this a troll post? It is not legal to rent out rooms in your house in SFH neighborhoods, unless you are in a "multifamily" zone.

Has to be. Section 8 comes out and physically inspects the unit so they would notice.

Maybe PP's housekeeper WAS a Sec 8 renter and now she just rents from PP at the Sec 8 rate instead

Yes, we rent out our walk-out basement at less-than what this lovely family used to pay under Section 8. The mother had been our once-weekly housekeeper for years, when her family ran into some issue with their Section 8 housing. She asked me if they could please move in for a few weeks until they could remedy the situation, but it worked out well and they asked to stay for a year. The family is from Guatemala, here legally, and I am a different Latin American nationality, so we get along well. Any work done by our housekeeper or her husband is paid by us at a rate of $23/ hr. We also agree to babysit her children once a week for free, so that she and her husband can have a night out. We always pay them, however, if they sit for our child. I am glad that our house sits back behind a wall of landscaping, because I can sense that there is a good deal of disapproval from this thread.

So, allowable or not, let me fast forward how this can play out over several years. I am from a wealthy town similar to McLean. More people have domestic help than not. And all of the residents of the town who have domestic allowed their help to use the address and enroll their kids in the schools whether they live-in or not. I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you test scores went wayyyyy down, the entire school system is in jeopardy now - where it used to be a top school system, it's now sub-par. PP would be a contributor to a similar type of situation. The schools you so highly covet might become crap, and you'll have to pay to send your kid to private. Good luck tinkering with the system.