Wherein my best friend sues

[dendawg]

Not to be a downer, but isn't this a pyrrhic victory, of sorts? Since the apartment complex is no longer Section 8, won't she have to move?

[Gabrielle Proctor]

I say the stereotypical lazy welfare recipient because lets not kid ourselves, that is a stereotype that many people hold, and which my neighbors are reinforcing.

You've just descibed my parent's neighbors, and they don't live in govt. housing.

My rent is $400, I want to GOV to pay MY rent!

So is mine, but I split it with my boyfriend so our rent is closer to $800.

[Geek King]

... before someone jumps me on it, yes I know that a lot, if not most of the people on welfare are honest people who just need help getting on their feet, I say the stereotypical lazy welfare recipient because lets not kid ourselves, that is a stereotype that many people hold, and which my neighbors are reinforcing.

First-hand experience: One of the offices I do support for is a Section 8 oversight department. I've met some of the residents of that program, both good and bad. The good participants are people who follow the rules, and really are just looking for a helping hand temporarily. The bad are every bit the stereotype, right down to the fancy cell phones and $3000 rims on their cars. I hate the bad ones, but the good families make it worthwhile. One that stands out is the mother with three little girls who were so excited to be moving out of the women's shelter into their own place. They really made an impression on me as people who were going to do all right, but needed some help to get on their feet.

And, yeah, some of the owners of the apartments are real peices of work too. Section 8 housing has to be inspected once a year. You should hear some of the owners scream when they're about to lose certification because they don't fix things--important things, even! I've heard the stories of owners who left the program because they wouldn't let them be the slumlords they wanted to be.

End the end, Section 8 is like anything else. Some good but enough bad that the stereotypes get passed on.

[Crazeyal]

Not to be a downer, but isn't this a pyrrhic victory, of sorts? Since the apartment complex is no longer Section 8, won't she have to move?

They evicted her. Merely trying to do so MIGHT have gotten them kicked out of the program, but accomplishing it got them sued, fined AND ineligible!!

[JLG]

Section 8 housing is subject to a lot of scrutiny too, nit-picky stuff about the fences, paint, etc. I wish they would scrutinize some of the tenants, though... it boggles the mind that the section 8 tenants next door all have 2 new trucks/vans per family, complete with custom lowering and rims.

It could be that everyone that lives there is not supposed to be in that house. A lot of times a person will quailfy to live in a section 8 house with just their kids and they move in their entire family.
I have a friend that lives in a really nice apartment and only her and her daughter are allowed to live there. But her loser boyfriend lives with them and he gets to kick back and enjoy the free rent. My friend pays like $60 a month in rent.

[auntiem]

Haha...EQ....mine is $600....and the only natural disaster I can wish for this time of year is for a male deer going into heat to ram into my door and destroy my apartment.

Great, now I'm going to have the image of you and your pet doe hiding in the bathroom while a heat raged deer tries to bust down your door.

We have some apartments around here that used to be Section 8, but they didn't want to fix anything so they lost their eligibility - now they rent them out to starving students that don't yet know their housing rights.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

I live in transitional housing. When my year lease is up, I get bumped up to the list for Section 8 permanent housing.

Cause I'm a single mother who is going to school.



Some of my neighbors in my transitional complex, though....

Come on, King County Housing Authority...tighten those eligibility requirements!

[LezbianPeon]

<-------is not the stereotypical section 8 renter. I am on section 8 though and have been for quite a number of years. I have lived in the same house since 1999 and my rent is based on my income. The normal rent is $750 and I have paid up to $722 because of my income at one point in time along with all the normal utilities. The odd thing is I never signed up for it, but was offered it through a housing agency when the boys dad & I split up. We split in 1996 and was offered Section 8 in the beginning of 1999. It was very beneficial when I decided to go back to college full-time and work part-time to improve our life. It definitely enabled me to focus on my college studies and eventually graduate with honors and not stress so bad about either paying the rent or feeding the boys. Section 8 is an amazing program if not abused or mistreated and I have been lucky that all other section 8 receivers that I have met have been hard workers like myself & only trying to do the best for their family and I would have never had any qualms about reporting somebody if I thought they were abusing the program or somebody's property.

[blas]

My ex roomate's gf was on welfare and section 8, her rent was ridiculously low, and he moved in with them and also sucked up the free rent and utilities. Then he started throwing fits that bills were acruing at his legal residence.

I never took my prime opportunity to turn them in....but I really just wanted to get him, not her or her baby.

[Bliss]

Mine's $100, but it's an old building and the owners are shit

[smileyeagle1021]

oh, if you think some of the section 8 housing is bad... you should see what the LDS church subsidizes people into (at least single people, families are much better off), one of my old roommates was on a church assistence program (he had an on the job injury and was unable to work and the state was willing to do shit for him)... sense I knew his situation I was willing to lower my price a little and eat a little bit of the cost (you know, charity)... well after 2 months his Bishop said, "I'm sorry, but this is just getting too expensive for us" and moved him into a boarding house that I'll be honest, I would live on the street before living there, the kitchen appliances looked like it was a miracle each and every time they were turned on and they worked, there were 3 bathrooms, for a boarding house with 18 residents, no air conditioning, heating that occasional works, and other tenents who quite frankly were the scum of the earth (druggies, alcoholics, thugs, etc)... but it was cheap.

sorry for the OT

[Polenicus]

<Klinger> Did someone say SECTION 8?

As long as it's not Section 7.

Because that means you've got giant alien robots, and they're just a PAIN to get rid of.

[bunnyboy]

I live in transitional housing. When my year lease is up, I get bumped up to the list for Section 8 permanent housing.

Cause I'm a single mother who is going to school.



Some of my neighbors in my transitional complex, though....

Come on, King County Housing Authority...tighten those eligibility requirements!

Doubt it'll happen, I mean we gotta spend money on things like making our image look nice, and making sure Seattle keeps it's head....

Aside from that, I've seen just about everything from the family who's getting back on track after leaving an abusive home, to the stereotype of project house, new rimmed Escalade.... yeah KCHA please for the love of Leroy, tighten the requirements.

[nomorecarts]

you guys are lucky on rent, it's $575 a month for an efficency on the "wrong" side of the tracks here. that's the cheapest you can get if you want running water

[Custard Chick]

*dies a little inside*

Another reason I cannot stand living the the capital.

2 bed/2 bath apartment is running my bf and I nearly $1500/month, and that's not including gas/heat/water.

NEVER move to DC. EVER.