This is someone's life. Sitting in a pile of someone's lawn. Bagged by my brother and I in a matter of a few hours. It didn't have to end this way.
Unfortunately the City of Kingston's Section 8 program decided they weren't paying for the month that the tenant was scheduled for eviction. Having been told that the client was served with an eviction notice with the potential to squat on the property until the end of the month, they informed us that they wouldn't pay anything toward October.
This forced us to use the service provided by our county Sheriff's Department to extract the tenant from the apartment. The loss at this point: $3,500. The damage inside the apartment is anything but a shocker considering we know what to expect after a Section 8 client is evicted. Had we been forced to use outside contractors, the additional expenses would increase dramatically. 
Looking at the picture above, you wouldn't think there was anything wrong on the inside. Which always prompts the question from friends of mine, why would you want to be a landlord? Isn't it a big hassle? Well, yes it is, if you don't screen your applicants well. A good resource for landlords is the website designed just for that purpose. www.kingstonlandlordsupport.org is managed by the Sheriff's Department and keeps track of those undesirables with a chronic eviction history.
This tenant was accepted by request from someone we thought was a friend. Lets just say, he's off the Christmas Card list. Incidentally, her young adult kids were at the house when we started the clean-out. They promptly collected a few of their own belongings and headed for the door, giving their mom the one finger salute on the way out. Since they were still in bed when we entered the apartment, they had no intention on leaving or least of all packing valuables just in case. They really didn't believe this day would come. The tenant sat amongst her belongings until someone from DSS showed up and picked her and her cats up. Even then, the fella didn't want her & the animals in the car but what was he to do?
I will be looking into avenues to better arm landlords in the future. This abuse from the systems we fund through our tax dollars should really be held more accountable for who they accept as clients. We should have the ability to know these folks better before they sign on the dotted line.
5 comments:
Maybe the Housing Authority will be able to collect the $ 50k owed by Aaron and then pay you what is owed?
Been there done that. Three months security seems to be the only out I've heard. Btw, you can find out who the next landlord is going to become that tenant's and make a nice delivery of all those bags on his property. A little help moving you might say.
Just because you are poor doesn't mean you have to maintain your residence as a dump.But more and more we see this happening.This attitude also spreads to the outside of the home with garbage strewed about. If I rent, why should I care. By the look of these pictures it might be that the tenant suffers from hoarding, a mental health issue.
Mike, I sympathize with you on this one. Being a landlord in the most welfare friendly city in the state is not fun. While welfare and social services programs are needed and helpful, the situation is not regulated or monitored.
DSS, Family of Woodstock, and multitude of other agencies place people in housing and then lose track of them.
Your story has happened time and time again. The landlord database is a good start. Holding Family of Woodstock and DSS accountable for their charges is another.
We should also make people receiving public subsistence work for it! The mayor was right on the mark with this one. If you want help, you need to pitch in and help the city.
Finally, these trouble tenants on section 8 who trash houses/apartments should be banned from ever receiving public assistance again.
How else can we stop them from jumping from house to house spreading their filth and destruction?
Correction for the ignorant people! Not everyone that is on Section 8 necessarily on Public Assistance. And on the other hand, not everyone that is on Public Assistance is actually doing something with themselves. Stop been judgmental!
Post a Comment