A renter in one of my apartments reported mold damage to the health department. I agreed to do everything requested of me after reading the health department’s letter of complaint. My renter harassed me at this period by complaining that I didn’t care about her health and that she wanted to vacate the unit. She repeatedly called Section 8 to ask if they could break the lease, but they insisted that the only way out was for me to consent to evicting the tenant. Regardless of how irate this woman made me, she was under a legal duty (a contract), and I refused to budge because it is difficult to find new tenants at this time of year.

The tenant visited multiple doctors and requested that they write me letters stating that she shouldn’t be around mold. Nevertheless, while agreeing to fix all the mold issues, I never consented to violate her contract throughout this time.

Then, on Friday of last week, I got a call from the Deputy Director of the neighborhood Section 8 office. We talked for a while about this matter, and I reaffirmed that I had cleaning workers ready to go and that I would follow the health department’s advice in every way. After some discussion, we came to the understanding that Section 8 would give me everything they owed me through the end of this month and they would also give me 4 months’ worth of rent. The Deputy Director then said, “Well, we want her out of the apartment and we are willing to pay rent on the apartment if you are willing to break the lease.” The documentation for this agreement arrived in the mail yesterday, and the rest is history.

The lesson in this tale? No matter what a renter says to you, know your rights and maintain composure. Although everyone can say whatever they want, legal documents have legal force. In my case, I was able to evict a PROBLEM TENANT (who had no past history, hmm..) and I ended up making money from the transaction. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!