I and the slumlady at 250 North Broad Street #1 in Doylestown received assistance from Bucks County Section 8. When she would not provide me with adequate sources of heat, Section 8 helped out by sending her some nasty letters which ordered her to reinstall the baseboards she had removed after I moved in to the unit; but they didn't have to be 'hooked up' and in working order until the weather got cold in the fall. And if they weren't working when it got cold out, I'd be forced to move, according to the craftily written Section 8 regulations. (If Section 8 weren't involved, the tenant would have the option of paying for repairs or installations which would bring the apartment unit up to BCHA standards, and taking the expense out of the next month's rental payment. When you sign on with Section 8, you give up this right.) Anyway, Slumlady brought in these supposed electricians (friends of hers) to hook the baseboards up, but to no avail, since her husband had ripped out the wiring to the baseboards under her direction. Her 'electricians' kept asking me to locate the wiring. What a joke. So after the 1-year lease was up, I left before the fall, so I wouldn't have to be looking for another place in the cold weather, during fall semester of college. While moving out, I suspected that I had been paying for some of Slumlady's electricity, (she lived next door to me in the same house)so I had it turned off. She confirmed this later in the nasty phone message she left complaining that HER hall lights weren't working because I had MY electricity shut off! Anyway, due to the fact that I had the electricity shut off, I couldn't vacuum as I had hoped to; but the truth is that the apartment rug was never vacuumed or otherwise cleaned before I originally moved in. I had actually rented a steam cleaner soon after moving in, in order to take up the encrusted cat urine, and had never asked for reimbursement from Slumlady. Even without the once over with the vacuum, the rug was cleaner upon my vacating than upon my moving in.

Returning to the BCHA. I move into another apartment and wait to receive my deposit money from Slumlady. And wait, and wait. I write her a courteous letter informing her of her 30 days to produce. She replies with a small, small check and a list of all the items she took out of my deposit. At the top of the list were all the bills she paid to have the baseboard heat returned to where it had originally been, and the bills she paid her 'electricians' to wander around looking for the sliced ends of the wiring. (If the baseboards are working today, it must be due to an act of God.) Then there was a bill for the ad she put in the paper advertising the apartment I legally vacated. Then there were bills from the proffesional cleaners she hired to clean the rugs. In short, she had a field day with my deposit, so I started a case with the BC Consumer Protection Office (a BIG waste of time, let me tell you... they ALSO spit on tenants) and when SLUMLADY refused to negotiate, the same office told me to give it up. Fat chance. So I hired a lawyer, and took Slumlady to small claims court in Bucks County. Meanwhile, I had been phoning my BC Section 8 caseworker, a Ms. Martinez if I remember correctly, to try and get a copy of my lease with Slumlady, which I had signed but never received a copy of. She gave me the run around, so I never received a copy. I didn't know what was in my own lease. So, I subpeona'd my case records with BC Section 8, and subpeona'd the housing inspector who had originally inspected the said unit before I officially took up residence there. At the trial, neither the records, nor the inspector showed up. Only the Section 8 director of the county, who was there to cover their posterior, and was of absolutlely no help. To make a long story short, I was awarded some of the money that Slumlady had appropriated, but not as much as I was rightfully owed.

So I called the BC District Attorney about prosecuting the BC Section 8 for ignoring two legal subpeonas. The DA would not prosecute on subpeona's issued for civil court. Not enough $$ involved, I was told. And that's it folks, I should have appealed the judgement and kept the pressure on, but I moved out of state for a job. So when you sign on with Section 8, don't expect anyone to protect your rights, even when this office prevents you from protecting your own. I realize that, like I did, many people on a fixed income NEED government assistance to survive and have a roof over their heads. My advise to you is to know your rights, study the landlord/tenant laws, and videotape your prospective apartment before you sign a lease. And petition your legislators to have the Section 8 codes changed, inso far as they deprive you of your lawful rights as a tenant. In short, Section 8 can end up costing you more than they assist you. qmzu4EHcaGAPVCPw2Fai

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