Live Calls with Section 8 Applicants -- Voucher Amounts and Confessions — Theirs and Mine!

I spend A LOT OF TIME talking with Section 8 applicants to figure out if their voucher will cover the amount of rent I need to get. I totally understand why property managers avoid Section 8 applicants. It’s too much time and too much expertise required to know the right questions to ask.

Section 8 voucher holders will be so happy to have a voucher and they come out of their intake meetings completely confused as to the amount of rent their voucher will really cover.

I made the following video hoping to clear it all up.

I was disheartened to read a comment from this video that said it was still confusing. I think if the person had read the blog explaining all the concepts, it would have been more clear.

See my blog How to Interview a Section 8 Voucher Holder — Does Their Voucher Cover the Rent?

My solution to the scathing comment was to allow viewers to see me do this live, mostly unedited. Here it is!

It was quite the experience to see myself do this. I wiggle a LOT! I’m very distracted by my hair and by the people outside with chainsaws. I spend A LOT of time talking with people.

I see that the more time I invest speaking with someone, the more I want them to work out for the house. I have to walk away from the conversation to go over the Red Flags and realize they are absolutely not a fit for me. I know this. But on the spot, I don’t see it fast enough. I like people too much and I don’t want to hurt their feelings so it’s not my nature to end the calls fast enough for what is practical. But I’m okay with that. I do feel it’s my missionary work in life to help people with housing. If the only way I can help is to get them to understand their voucher amount, then that’s something. I can’t rent to everyone though. I also have an obligation to the owners of the house.

What Caller #1 Was Really Saying

I liked this woman! This one was hard for me on a personal level because I have to deny her.

I am grateful I was able to explain her voucher amount to her. though at least. She said she had a $1,200 voucher from Plymouth Housing and two “little girls.” Two girls means one bedroom. She possibly only has a two-bedroom voucher. From my experience, that means her voucher amount would be $1,000. Plymouth Housing never has given people vouchers for enough rent. They are saying she has a $1,200 voucher, $200 of which will be minused off if the landlord doesn’t pay for gas, electric, and water. But maybe Plymouth Housing has finally figured out that their applicants are ending up in slum houses because their voucher amounts are too low and maybe they have started to notice rents have increased so Plymouth Housing has increased their voucher amounts. When I emailed the caseworker with details, I received an email back saying that even though the tenant has to pay all her own gas, electric, and water and has to supply her own refrigerator and stove, yes, her rent really could be $1,200.

What was interesting too about this one is that the applicant has to pay a significant amount of that voucher herself. She has a good job. I never did figure out from where though. Having to pay a high amount of the rent herself could be good or bad. Bad if she has a poor rental history. Good in that she appreciates the voucher and she appreciates her precious income so she takes care of the place.

With her income being so much, Section 8 has leeway on their 30% rule. 30% of a tenant’s income has to be used toward paying the rent. When a tenant has a good job and they find a house where the rent is more than their voucher allows, the caseworker can look at their income and decide if they will go up to 40% of the tenant’s income so the tenant can get the better house. That could be what happened here. Maybe they know she’s being evicted as well so they are allowing her to take a place for more than they normally would. I don’t really know if they know that though.

You can tell listening to the call that she was very interested in what I would find on my “free” search about her eviction history. She lied at first that it was all “settled.” But at another point, she called me and she was sobbing on the phone. This isn’t recorded. I could barely hear or understand her. She was telling me though that she was being evicted and she really needed a home.

She called me again too, which also wasn’t recorded, and told me she is being evicted, “to be honest,” because she wasn’t able to make the missing rental payments that the court set her up to make.

I really have a problem with people who used the pandemic for “free rent” and they also had a job. It’s so bizarre that the program was set up to give rental assistance to people who did not need rental assistance. Apparently, this applicant was able to get the COVID Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) funds. The CERA funds only paid for two months of rent and she thought they were paying for five months of rent. Maybe her landlord just pocketed the other three months? Maybe not. But the tenant didn’t pay her rent when she was told it was due again. She ended up in court and she was given a payment plan. Then she couldn’t make the payments. By going MONTHS with the CERA money paying rent, I’ve noticed the tenants all changed their lifestyle. They didn’t save the money. They spent it! Once it’s time for them to pay rent again, so many of them can’t do it. I see this repeatedly from both ends; my own tenants and several applicants.

I felt horrible to hear her cry and she is so desperate to find a place. I’m really nice on the phone so she thinks she has a chance. Last night, speaking with her again, I told her I don’t even have her application and there’s no guarantee she will get the house. I’m not the only one making the decision. That’s what I told her. I really do typically make the final decision, but when I’m on the fence I’ll discuss the situation with the owner of the house.

This applicant still hasn’t applied. I think she’s looking for a less savvy landlord. She may be banking on the fact that her name hasn’t shown up yet in the court filings too. Or I missed it? Or I’m looking in the wrong court? I don't know. But I can’t rent to someone who used the CERA money and then didn’t pay rent. She owes way too much on her voucher to risk renting to someone who has a history of not paying rent.

I completely DREAD telling her she didn’t qualify. But I can’t ethically save someone who has a poor rental history. If Section 8 said she can afford $900 a month (or her HUD subsidized unit determined what she can afford), then that means she misappropriated her funds. She did this to herself. I still don’t enjoy telling people that.

What Caller #2 Was Really Saying

On this call, I was completely focused on her voucher amount. I’m also concerned I have that particular house listed at too high of a rental price. So I was very eager to qualify her. It’s like eating cookies. They’re so good at the time but I know I’ll be regretting that I ate them once I get to the gym and see myself in my leggings in the mirror. It’s OBVIOUS cookies make you fat. I know eating sugar makes you just want more sugar. But I do it anyway!

Her voucher amount was crystal clear. She already has been using Section 8. The rental amount at her current residence is exactly the amount I’m asking for my Promenade house. Not only that, but at her current residence, she is paying all her own gas, electric, and water. So simple. I was so excited. I wanted to gobble that cookie right up! Sign the lease. Let’s go! Let me put this behind me. No more phone calls. Let’s be done. So I suddenly became super deaf.

She immediately confessed that her house is full of cockroaches and mice. AND I BECAME DEAF? Seriously! This one is embarrassing. That’s like skipping the cookie and just eating the stick of butter that was used to make the cookie. I even set up a time for her to see our house. I almost allowed a woman with cockroach eggs on her shoes to come to our house. BAD! VERY BAD OF ME! But there was some divine intervention in our favor. She was a no show. Hallelujah!

When people have cockroaches, we have NEVER, EVER, EVER been to their house and wondered how on earth that happened. It’s obvious. They are dirty. They have crumbs everywhere. It’s like they have a million pets they feed. The crumbs are all over the couch, under it, on their bed. They clearly don’t eat at a table.

Not to say someone can’t get cockroaches and mice who is clean. It happens. I grew up on a farm. We had mice sometimes. I know my mom had to be super vigilant with crumbs and cleaning until she got them all. But they never overtook us.

What was funny about this one is that her property manager quit taking her calls. Or never took her calls? I’m guessing they figured out quickly that she was dirty and they decided to ignore her until she moves. These days with the slow courts it’s a lot easier than evicting her. They were getting her Section 8 rent each month too. If they evicted her, they could be required to pay it back from the date of the 30-day notice. By the time she made it to court, that could have been 6 months of rent they would be required to return. Just ignoring her was probably the fastest way to be rid of her.

I also found it pretty hilarious that they got a Ring camera for their Southfield office. Southfield isn’t Detroit. The crime isn’t so bad there. I do wonder if the Ring camera was because they didn’t want her walking in with her cockroaches that could fall out of her boots or pants or something and infest their office. Or maybe she’s just nuts and they weren’t going to let her in? I don’t know.

In Conclusion

I probably shouldn’t let you all see me doing these live! I sound like I’m considering these people. I DID consider these people. Then I woke up and didn’t eat those cookies!

Keeping it real! Let me know what you think. Be nice.