It is easy to reject tenants based on many other factors. But is was never smart to put no section 8 in your ad.
Probably most section 8 tenants have bad credit, evictions and convictions. This law just makes the cost of being a landlord higher… meaning higher rents in the future.
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The reason a lot of landlords don’t like section 8 is not because they don’t like checks from the government, or they don’t like the hassle of dealing with the government inspections (some don’t, but i suspect that’s not the majority). It’s simply because they don’t like the typical people on section 8. And for those people, this law won’t fix that problem. But I get the feeling that a lot of section 8 voucher recipients might get the false sense of hope that now they will have much better chance of landing a unit. For the majority of them, things won’t be any different. This law will only help those section 8 recipients on the better side of the spectrum.
On the subject of section 8, I recently had 2 section 8 inspections in SF. I was told since they had the financial screwup last year the whole housing authority department had been replaced including all inspectors. This inspector I met said he was laid off too but was re-hired. The inspection letter gave me a 5-hour window for the inspection. This is completely unheard of. Granted as a landlord I don’t need to be present for these inspections but I like to go to all of them because sometimes I can address the issue on the spot and it’s good to have a chance to speak with inspector directly. In comparison for Oakland section 8 inspections they give you a specific time, not even a range. I hope SF housing will gradually work through the kinks and make the window smaller next time around.
I had a new section 8 listing in Oakland last month and received many many responses. One of the responses was from a grandma. She said she’s been on section 8 for 30 years and now she is looking for a good place to raise her granddaughter. I shared it with my wife and she finally decided that we rent to a non-section-8 tenant for a lower rent. Sigh.
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