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Landlord raises complaints

By Amy Zalar 3 min read

A Section 8 landlord upset with a lack of internal controls regarding the number of Section 8 landlord/tenant packets that are handed out to potential tenants brought his concerns Friday to the Fayette County Housing Authority. Tenants in the Section 8 Program get vouchers that let them shop around for their own private landlord. The packets, required by the housing authority before a contract can be signed, include detailed information on both the potential tenant and landlord, including tax identification numbers and deeds.

Edward Hazelwood of New Salem said he has been renovating a rental property under the impression that he will be leasing it to a woman who filled out a landlord/tenant packet for his site but recently learned that the woman has filled out a second packet for another location.

Hazelwood said the housing authority is basically handing out multiple “hunting licenses,” and that should not happen. He said no wonder the housing authority staff is overworked if they are doing duplicate paperwork.

“I don’t know where I stand; I don’t know if I have a tenant or not,” Hazelwood said. He added that the woman has come back to the site and even had input into interior improvements Hazelwood is making.

Hazelwood said he turned down three tenants thinking he was obligated to rent to the woman. He said the process to hand out more than one packet is not good business. Shirley Hazelwood said she felt that she and her husband had been “played.”

FCHA Executive Director Thomas Harkless explained that once a tenant receives a Section 8 voucher, they could negotiate with as many property owners as they want. He said there is no obligation until the tenant, landlord and housing authority sign a three-party agreement.

Harkless said although the procedure is typically that potential Section 8 tenants shop around for the best price, usually they only fill out one information packet.

Harkless said that under Section 8, the housing authority provides a rent subsidy but the property owner is responsible for its upkeep.

“The problem is you gave (one person) two hunting licenses,” Hazelwood said in response to Harkless’ answer. “You’re tap dancing and you know it.”

FCHA Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink said there should be procedures that give the authority more control to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future. “Let’s get control so it doesn’t happen again,” Zimmerlink said.

Hazelwood also mentioned that his site had been inspected in May and must be inspected again prior to a new Section 8 tenant moving in.

Following a question by Zimmerlink regarding how often inspections are held, Harkless said every time there is a new contract, a new inspection must be conducted per HUD regulation, regardless of how recent the last inspection was.

The FCHA currently has about 1,100 Section 8 vouchers, 950 of which are currently distributed.

Sonya Over, director of finance, estimated that at any given time, there are between 50 and 100 vouchers on the street.

Once a potential tenant receives a voucher, they have three or four months to find a home before the voucher expires.

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