I will never do Section 8 again! I know some people love the program and believe that the supposed “guaranteed” rent is worth it, but not me. I just had a very long time Section 8 tenant that I inherited with a building move out. Finally. We could have evicted her many times for violating the terms of her lease, but we never did because we knew her apartment would need to be completely rehabbed after she left. Well, that day is here.

She gave written notice in November that she’d be moving out the week before Christmas. Contractors were lined up, and we had a verbal committment from a new tenant for January 1. Of course a few days before the move out date, Section 8 Cindy calls to say she’s not moving out right now after all because her new apartment is not ready for her yet.

My property manager told her this was fine, as the January 1 tenant didn’t appear to be panning out anyway and this would give us a little more time for the contractors to do their work. It was the holidays after all.

So Section 8 Cindy moves out mid-January. It was made perfectly clear to her social worker that we would not be prorating the rent. They’d pay for the full month. Also discussed was the condition of the apartment and what would be expected upon move out. The place was trashed and we wanted the county to chip in for part of the rehab expenses. The security deposit was not going to make a dent in the expenses required to bring the unit up to rent ready again. The social worker said that we could work something out and agreed to oversee the move out and the subsequent cleaning.

Well, three social workers later and post move out, here is what we have. We have a lovely medicine cabinet full of personal effects. I can’t help but notice all of the deoderant that is being left behind. This might be related in some distant way to the fact that the bathtub has been full of laundry for the last x number of years. Yep. That means no bathing. And the deoderant is piling up and is seemingly not wanted enough to take it along upon exit. Hmmm.

Then we have the rest of the bathroom that has been “cleaned.” You must understand this really is clean compared to how it looked before. She gets an E for effort but $0 in credits toward getting her security deposit back.

Behind door #2 we have the kitchen. The refrigerator has never been cleaned, and now certainly wasn’t an excuse to do it for the first time.

Let your eyes wander to the kitchen cabinets and walls and you’ll see a full array of food splatter that reaches proportions beyond the wildest cooking I’ve ever done.

Also note the condition of the floor where the table used to be.

Finally, back out in the main room we see a small sample of the furniture and garbage that was left behind.

The current social worker has indeed been to the apartment and has confirmed that it is cleaned to her satisfaction and that a full refund of the security deposit is warranted. It’s a classic case of the blind leading the blind. I charge $50 if a mere coat hanger is left behind, not to mention furniture, trash, food, feces, and years worth of dirt and grime.

Apparently the conversation about the county sharing in the rehab expenses was not passed along to the latest social worker. There has been no consistency, no action, and no educated response to anything we’ve put into the black hole of the county Section 8 establishment.

The rehab work is underway and I should have some new photos of it and a breakdown of money spent soon.