The Housing Authority of the City of Erie

Karl B

If you’re a landlord considering participating in the Section 8 voucher program then I’m here to tell you not to do it. I have several reasons for this, which I will outline. For one, communicating with the office is not easy. When Darrin ran the program it was better but now with Stacie running the program I found myself having to send three e-mails to get a response. Another issue is this Section 8 office won’t pay fair market rent. I had a inherited tenant who didn’t report a running toilet. When it came time for me to raise her rent I attempted to raise it from $437 to a higher rent (I forget what it was off-hand but it wasn’t anything drastic). I was told by the inspector, Jeff, that my request would be denied as $450 is what a one bedroom in the neighborhood went for. Well, my tenant overdosed on fentanyl and died and a few months later I rented the apartment out for $590—that’s $140 more than what The Housing Authority was willing to pay. The kicker, however, is when my other Section 8 tenant—a total nightmare of a tenant and by far my worst tenant ever—wouldn’t pay her 30% share of the rent (The Housing Authority paid 70% of her rent). I had issues with this tenant from the start—she smoked inside her unit, blasted music inside her unit disturbing the other tenants, the yard was full of her trash and cigarette butts and she her funding was frozen on several occasions because she missed her meetings with The Housing Authority (meaning I wasn't paid on time by The Housing Authority). When she owed me months of rent I ended up suing her and having her evicted. After she was removed by the constable there was an additional $362.84 in damages (including having to replace the front door which her ex-boyfriend kicked in). I alerted The Housing Authority of these additional damages and included photos as well as receipts. Months later I attempted to follow-up and after the third attempt I was told the tenant was currently still in the program despite owing the $362.84 (this is a big no-no and it will be reported to HUD as her voucher should still be frozen) and the excuse that was given was that I did not report it within 30 days. The reason for this is because it took me more than 30 days to repair the apartment. Also, no paperwork was given stating I had to do it within 30 days. And the kicker—the tenant didn’t pay me the money owed until July 2020 and I had submitted the photos and receipts to Section 8 in February of 2020—so they were well aware of the additional $362.84 in damages roughly five months before putting the tenant in another Section 8 property. I will never participate in the Section 8 program again and I implore landlords to reconsider as this program is not ‘easy money’ and for many landlords I've spoken with it ends up being more of a headache than it’s worth.