818 South Flores Street | San Antonio, Texas 78204 | 210-477-6262 | www.saha.

org


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2014 LANDLORD SYMPOSIUM Q&As

QUESTION
1. If I lost a lease violation in eviction court, yet the tenant has 5 lease violations and property
damage, what can I do?

2. If you know a tenant has an unauthorized occupant (like a boyfriend) what to do? Waste of
time to take them to court, they need proof impossible to provide.

ANSWER
1. An eviction judgment is not necessary for SAHA to begin the termination process. Program
participants are obligated to not commit any serious or repeated violations of the lease. If a
participant violates the lease, it is the landlords responsibility to enforce the lease and
submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with any notice(s) of the lease violation
provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. If you do not know name or contact
information of the participants caseworker, please call (210) 477-6262.

2. Enforce the lease and submit to SAHA any notice(s) of the lease violation that you provide
to the family. SAHA can begin the termination process if we receive evidence of the lease
violationan eviction is not always necessary. You may also notify our Fraud Investigator
of the alleged fraud, by visiting the Report Fraud/Complaints page of SAHA.org, or by
emailing us at Fraud@saha.org.


QUESTION
Who would we send 3 day to if resident has not paid?

ANSWER
Please submit all copies of all documentation provided to the participant, to the participants
caseworker. If you do not know name or contact information of the participants caseworker,
please call (210) 477-6262.


QUESTIONS
1. If a resident has 0 portion & full rent is paid by SAHA what actions can landlord take to get
utility balances?
2. Is the fraud dept. growing in order to help eliminate fraud cases?
3. What actions can be taken when residents receive multiple lease violations (drugs,
violence, unauthorized occupy? Etc.)

818 South Flores Street | San Antonio, Texas 78204 | 210-477-6262 | www.saha.org


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ANSWERS
1. SAHA strongly suggest referring to the Property Code Title 8, Chapter 92 Residential
Tenancies, Sec. 92.008. Interruption of Utilities before taking any action your tenant.

2. The fraud department is not growing, but SAHA is making every effort to streamline the
fraud/complaint reporting process. For example, SAHA recently implemented the
Lighthouse complaint system, which allows individuals to anonymously report fraud or
personnel complaints to SAHA on the web or by telephone. Each complaint is, then, logged
and tracked. All complaints must be closed within a reasonable time period. You may also
report fraud by emailing Fraud@saha.org.

3. Program participants are obligated to not commit any serious or repeated violations of the
lease. If a participant violates the lease, it is the landlords responsibility to enforce the
lease and submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with any notice(s) of the lease
violation provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. The method of enforcing
the lease for participants on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program is no different
than your residents not receiving rental assistance. If you do not know name or contact
information of the participants caseworker, please call (210) 477-6262.


QUESTIONS
1. Is the St. Marys School of J ustice (for residents rights) available to landlords?

2. Does SAHA need to be aware of all tenant violations in writing?

ANSWERS
1. SAHA suggest contacting St. Marys School of J ustice directly at 210 431-2596 or visit their
website: http://texaslawhelp.org/organization/st-marys-university-school-of-law-center-
for/housing/landlord-tenant-1?ref=wSvwj

2. Preferably, yes. Program participants are obligated to not commit any serious or repeated
violations of the lease. If a participant violates the lease, it is the landlords responsibility to
enforce the lease and submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with any notice(s) of
the lease violation provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. If you do not know
name or contact information of the participants caseworker, please call (210) 477-6262.
If the landlord verbally reports a lease violation, but does not provide any documentation of
the violation, SAHA will treat the verbal notice as a complaint. All complaints must be
verified by SAHA before any action can be taken against the participant.
Please keep in mind that, when SAHA proposes to terminate a participants assistance, the
participant is entitled to an informal hearing. In the hearing, all evidence will be taken into
consideration. If SAHA does not present sufficient evidence of the lease violation, the
hearing officer may overturn SAHAs decision to terminate the participants assistance.

818 South Flores Street | San Antonio, Texas 78204 | 210-477-6262 | www.saha.org


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QUESTION
Why renew for multiple years without landlords approval?

ANSWER
Although SAHA determines the participants eligibility to receive rental assistance for multiple
years, the landlord does not have to renew the lease beyond its initial term. Conducting
biennial and triennial recertifications reduces program cost, and poses a physical burden for
elderly and disabled participants making the travel to SAHA annually.


QUESTION
How does SAHA enforce unauthorized tenants living at house?

ANSWER
Program participants are obligated to not commit any serious or repeated violations of the
lease. If SAHA receives sufficient evidence demonstrating that the participant committed a
serious or repeated lease violation, SAHA will propose termination of the participants housing
assistance. As an alternative action, SAHA may require the participant to provide evidence
that the unauthorized occupant no longer resides in the unit, in order for the participant to
remain eligible for the program.

If you find an unauthorized occupant residing in a participants unit, it is the landlords
responsibility to enforce the lease and submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with any
notice(s) of the lease violation provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. If you do
not know name or contact information of the participants caseworker, please call (210) 477-
6262. You may also notify our Fraud Investigator of the alleged fraud, by visiting the Report
Fraud/Complaints page of SAHA.org, or by emailing us at Fraud@saha.org.

Please keep in mind that, when SAHA proposes the termination of a participants assistance,
the participant is entitled to an informal hearing. In the hearing, all evidence will be taken into
consideration. If SAHA does not present sufficient evidence of the lease violation, the hearing
officer may overturn SAHAs decision to terminate the participants assistance.


QUESTION
How can SAHA help us enforce unauthorized pets?

ANSWER
Yes. Program participants are obligated to not commit any serious or repeated violations of the
lease. If a participant violates the lease, it is the landlords responsibility to enforce the lease
and submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with any notice(s) of the lease violation

818 South Flores Street | San Antonio, Texas 78204 | 210-477-6262 | www.saha.org


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provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. If you do not know name or contact
information of the participants caseworker, please call (210) 477-6262.

Please keep in mind that, when SAHA proposes the termination of a participants assistance,
the participant is entitled to an informal hearing. In the hearing, all evidence will be taken into
consideration. If SAHA does not present sufficient evidence of the lease violation, the hearing
officer may overturn SAHAs decision to terminate the participants assistance.


QUESTIONS
1. Please provided, if have, eviction history at notice of family history.
2. On RTA form #10 what does subsides propriety?
3. How can many lease violations +an eviction?
4. Can we lien a SAHA resident? No contact information for these questions

ANSWERS
1. The Notice of Family History includes only the current and previous landlords address and
phone number, if applicable, but it does not include the participants eviction history. It is the
approving landlords responsibility to determine the participants suitability as a tenant.

2. Section 10 on Request for Tenancy Approval is for multi-family properties that received a
loan, funding and/or tax credit to assist with the building of affordable housing.

3. The participants Family Obligations require the family (1) to not be evicted from the
assisted unit for any serious or repeated lease violations and (2) to not commit any serious
or repeated lease violations. In other words, an eviction judgment is not necessary for
SAHA to begin the termination process. If a participant violates the lease, it is the landlords
responsibility to enforce the lease and submit all evidence of the lease violation, along with
any notice(s) of the lease violation provided to the family, to the participants caseworker. If
you do not know name or contact information of the participants caseworker, please call
(210) 477-6262.

4. Program participants at not exempt from your normal processes in collecting an
outstanding debt.


QUESTION
A resident is currently on a voucher lease and relocating. Is the resident able to move in prior
to the new contract and pay out of pocket for the rent charges? (To the new unit)

ANSWER
SAHA strongly discourages program participants from moving in to a new unit until the unit
passes an HQS inspection and the requested rent has been approved.