Mr. Luce points out that if a section 8 tenant is "evicted" for damage to property, they are removed from the section 8 program, which hopefully is now true. It was not that way in the 1990's.
But here is the real problem. They are only removed from the section 8 program by "an eviction for damages". In the real world of landlording, we do not see the extent of all the damages until the tenant moves out. In 32 years with over 5000 tenants, I have only evicted 3 tenants for damages to the property. The threshold to evict for damages is very high in Hennepin County! Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gregory D. Luce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, February 08, 2003 12:24 AM Subject: [Mpls] RE: Section 8 Issues > Here's the law: > > A public housing authority (in this case the Minneapolis Public Housing > Authority) must terminate a tenant from the section 8 program if that tenant > is evicted for a serious lease violation. Damaging a property to the extent > that Mr. Meldahl alleges would amount to a serious lease violation, and the > MPHA has no discretion to allow that tenant to remain in the > program--federal law mandates that it must terminate the voucher. > > It is also law--and good sense--that the general public cannot obtain data > about persons who receive public assistance (which includes Section 8), > especially since those that do are often maligned or stigmatized based > solely on the fact that they receive such assistance. So the fact that MPHA > would not release individual data on a Section 8 recipient is perfectly and > understandably legal-- indeed it is compelled by law. > > Ultimately, a previous landlord would not know if a tenant was terminated > from the voucher program. But, having represented or advised tenants in > termination proceedings, I can tell you first hand that it happens. > > Am I saying tenants do not damage rental property? No. Am I reiterating > that Section 8 tenants are no different than other tenants? Yep. > > Gregory Luce > St. Paul > > Steve Meldahl wrote: > > > Mr. Luce appears to be new to the game. The fact is this - if a > > section 8 tenant wrecks a house or apartment, they do not lose their > > voucher in Minnesota. In fact I brought this fact to the attention of > > Representative Ramstad and Senator Grams in December 1997. They > > referred me to Jerry Benoit, one of the heads of HUD in Washington DC > > and on 12-19-97, and he told me that it was up to each state > > individually if they would allow these destructive tenants to remain in > > the section 8 program. Our liberal state decided that it was ok to > > leave them in the program. I also received a letter from Thomas Feeney, > Coordinator for HUD in > Minnesota on 12-16-97 that states, " Minneapolis Public Housing has > elected not to release participant (tenant) information." In other > words, they can remain in the program and we do not have to tell you or > anyone! > > > > > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. > 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
