Some fancy neighborhoods open gates to Section 8 tenants

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | September 8, 2012 | Megan O'Matz, John Maines and Barbara Hijek

[2ndDivisionVet]

Here's an odd side effect of South Florida's foreclosure crisis: Some immense homes with pools and three-car garages in gated communities are being rented out to unlikely tenants — poor people paying with Section 8 aid.

Among the properties are homes with up to 4,500 square feet of space in private communities with guardhouses and regal names such as "Monarch Lakes" and "Bellagio at Vizcaya."

Some of the owners are teetering on foreclosure and gambling they can earn enough money from the federal housing vouchers to stave off the banks. Others bought the properties cheap in foreclosure auctions and want the guaranteed rental income.

Housing advocates and the government view the turnabout as a win-win for homeowners and the poor, who have access to safer communities and better schools.

But some neighbors are aghast.

After a single mother and her nine children rented a house in the exclusive Isles neighborhood of Coral Springs, the homeowners association adopted an amendment to its governing documents stating: "No Section 8 or government leasing assistance is permitted."

The association is threatening eviction.

Federal law does not expressly outlaw such bans....

[sarasmom]

LOL!

I lived near several “upper middle class” gated community housing developments, with less than one in twenty of the houses “occupied” in 2004.
Property over twenty miles from the developed suburbs of Tampa.
I wondered at the time who could afford, or want to buy one of them! Over a hundred pretty 3K plus square feet McMansions built on tiny little single lots, crowded on less than 40 acres, smack dab in the middle of a huge rural community.

I have not been back through that area for many years. I will make an educated guess that it is now mostly abandoned property and/or Section 8 rental housing.

Societal growing pains, I guess.
We all now know concentrated enclaves of “public housing” developments don't work, and merely breed more crime and poverty.

If you see that your neighbors grass is growing pretty high, do you gently ask them if their lawn mower is broken, or do you anonymously complain to your home owners association?

[thingumbob]

Can't do it.....you can't ride through Cabrini Green and make it through the otherside with out being shot at.

As for Section 8 Housing ...it depends on which one we're talking about. I the big cities it's not so easy to do.... in the smaller cities its an easy driveby during daylight hours.

[A_perfect_lady]

That looks nice!

[Kickass Conservative]

Reminds me of the Extreme Makeover TV Show where they build a deserving Family a Mansion when they couldn’t afford to maintain an 1200 S.F. Ranch Style House.

Many of the Recipients either Mortgaged the new House to the hilt and got foreclosed on, let the House go to pot because they couldn’t afford to maintain it or sold it and ran away with the cash that they later blew on something stupid.

Can’t wait to see how this works out. Meanwhile I’ll be making out my Mortgage Payment and wondering what the heck I was thinking.

[willyd]

We had the opposite thing happen in our neighborhood. Our HOA threatened to build Section 8 in the middle of our neighborhood if we didn’t pay one of their buddies 3 times the market value of a piece of land that he had bought and turned out to be a bust in this soft economy.

Our smart neighbors were livid, but they got the votes they needed and about $600k for the property which we will now have to maintain as a park.

Does anyone know if this illegal?

[thingumbob]

You might want to call you local Realtors Association to ask them how you go about finding out what the current State Guidelines are for HOA's in Texas.

You might also try looking through your states website. States have HOA Guidelines for the Covenants, Declarations, bylaws and rules & regulations for all HOA communities.

I can't tell you much more other than from time to time all HOA communities must review and update their HOA bylaws, rules and regulations, etc. to conform to the state HOA guidelines because over time some of the original agreements become no longer valid or are modified by the state officials.

Finally, your HOA usually has a Lawyer they use for HOA problems from time to time. As long as you pay your dues are paid up to date and you are in good standing... that Lawyer has to answer your questions regarding any legal matters of your subdivision including the possibility that the HOA is not acting in the accordance with their guidelines as elected representatives. Potentially, you could get those members ejected from the Board and replaced by a vote and use the lawyer being retained to help you achieve it. The lawyers is supposed to advise the membership's representatives but you also have access to them.

[wardaddy]

Sec 8 will kill an area as quick as projects

[La Lydia]

If they get Section 8, they most likely get Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) subsidies for their utility bills. We pay for that, too. The amount provided for the program in Florida this year is $78,039,720.