Section Eight is Great !!! (Why pay your rent when you can watch the NFL?)

I was recently at one of my buildings that has Section 8. One of the tenants has had an outstanding balance of between $100 and $170 for over a year. Her monthly portion of the bill for quite some time was $4. It is now about $140 since she has a job. Single woman, no kids, no dependents. She is very nice and keeps me up to date on any problems that arise, we are quite friendly.

I was at the building to install the new Carbon Monoxide detectors required by law. These are just one more safety measure that increases the cost of housing in MA, because one or a few people died because someone didn't follow the building code. Does it make the house safer?-yes Would putting padded floors in everywhere make houses safer? Watch out, it might be coming...

Anyway, every month she gives me a written explanation of why she can't pay the rent or the back rent. I hadn't been in her apartment in awhile, but boy was it nice!! About a 5 foot wide projection TV with full cable, and verizon DSL for her computer! It made me feel ashamed that I would actually even ask her for the $100 in rent that she owed me, because clearly life was very difficult for her. Who can be bothered paying their rent when there are important cable and telephone DSL bills to pay!

To think that I got rid of my cable because I thought it was an extravagent expense!!! Maybe I should be on section 8? Of course the city just raised the taxes on the building by 25% this year. I wonder if I can raise her rent by 25%?