Know of an apartment available?

[pakoo.livejournal.com]

This is a huge longshot for this area, but a good friend of mine has exhausted a search for an apartment. She is a single mom, has a 15 year old boy and 12 year old girl and is on Section 8.  I know some landlords shy away from that, but, if you think about it, in a lot of ways it's more secure than renting on a typical lease since the payment is guaranteed by the state on the first of every month. She is hardworking and her two kids are both good students. I have known this family for years and they are responsible, quiet, and have never had one housing issue. (their landlord is selling his property and they have to move) The mom is happy to meet any prospective landlord and can provide a solid reference. The max for a two bedroom would be $1567 and the three bedroom rate would be $1945.  If you happen to know of a vacancy, or know any info that could help this family, it would be most appreciated, thanks.

Comments

I can't help but wanted to put my $0.02 in on section 8

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I can't help with this circumstance, but wanted to put my 2 cents in on section 8 tenants. I'm a live-in landlord with a two-family house, and had a section 8 tenant for several years - speaking as a landlord, the best part is that the state's part of the rent (which is most of it - for me it was $40 less than the total rent) gets direct deposited into your bank account and the tenant is responsible for the rest. The only state interference was an annual inspection to make sure that, eg, the stairways have railings and there are smoke and CO detectors where required. So, pretty straightforward and simple.

RE: I can't help but wanted to put my $0.02 in on section 8

[pakoo.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you to post this additional information, thanks so very much for doing that.

[cutieperson]

Not sure what their deadline for finding a place is, or when these will be available, but there's an upcoming lottery for affordable units in Union. http://somervillecdc.org/event/deadline-submit-rental-applications-union-square-apartments (deadline is May 5th)

I don't know of any other Somerville buildings currently going up (Millbrook did their lottery last month), though Somerville Homeless Coalition or the Somerville Housing Authority may know of some.

[pakoo.livejournal.com]

That's very helpful, thank you.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

The only thing I know about the situation is what someone who seemed to know something about section 8 said, which was that people who can manage to get section 8 vouchers tend to be people who know how to work the system, and those people tend to be the ones who are a real pain in the ass if they want to get on the landlord's case. Hence the unpopularity of section 8 tenants.

If landlords actually believe that, then it would help if your friend got letters of recommendation from previous landlords to show whenever she is looking. That would probably help relieve landlords' anxieties.