Public Housing Authorities Can be Frustrating, But This is the 2nd Hardest Part

The most frustrating part of becoming a Section 8 landlord is acquiring the property.

The 2nd most frustrating part can be the professionalism and helpfulness of the Public Housing Authority you work with. 

We’ve worked with absolutely amazing people whose only mission is to help get underprivileged people into housing. And unfortunately, we’ve worked with housing authorities that SUCK.

Other housing authorities make you feel like you are a pest, that you are a nuisance. Phone calls and emails go unanswered, case workers go quiet, and it just takes forever to get a straight answer. 

Because of this frustration, there are scammers out there who try to take advantage of landlords and voucher holders. That’s right, there are people who prey on the poor by offering “accelerated voucher obtainment” for a small fee, collect the money, and disappear. 

We recently had this experience attempting to work with a PHA as a landlord. I have selected to block the person’s actual name and photograph because I don’t know 100% if this is a scam, but it smells like a scam, and when something smells like a scam, I take a pause. 

You can see here that I tried reaching out to an individual that claimed to be a client and landlord coordinator at a PHA on LinkedIn. She then responded that she would help me if I paid her $300 for the first month, and then $150 for each additional month.

Wut? Nah. I’ve never seen someone so openly ask for improper benefits like that. Anyway, I asked if the person actually worked for the Housing Authority and she saw the message but never responded.

Reminder, when you are working with a PHA at no point should you have to pay personal funds to accelerate the case. Now, you possibly could, but I would never recommend under the table possibly illegal dealings to work with a housing authority.

Keep your skeptical radar up!