RENTAL ASSISTANCE INFURIATES LANDLORD; NEVER AGAIN, SHE SAYS AFTER HOUSE IS TRASHED BY NOW-EVICTED TENANT

Landlord Janice Metzler has closed the door on renting to low-income tenants served by a rent-subsidy program.

Metzler said the government needs to more closely supervise tenants in the program so landlords aren't saddled with unpaid rent and damaged property.

The East Missouri Action Agency administers the Housing and Urban Development rental assistance program in a seven-county area of Southeast Missouri.

But William Tucker, the head of the housing program for the not-for-profit agency in Park Hills, said the agency doesn't screen tenants beyond determining if they are eligible for rental assistance based on income.

"It is not our responsibility," he said.

Metzler, who lives in St. Louis, owns a rental house at 1424 Howell in Cape Girardeau. Metzler recently evicted the female tenant who lived there almost two years. She said the tenant owed four months rent totaling $380.

The tenant's sister said Metzler didn't keep up the property. She said her sister paid for a number of repairs to the house instead of paying the rent.

Metzler said the house was in good shape when she rented it to the woman.

Metzler charged rent of $565 a month for the small, blue, frame house. HUD paid $470 a month to Metzler. The tenant was required to pay the difference of $95 a month.

Metzler gave the tenant 30 days to get out. The eviction deadline was Nov. 10.

Metzler said the house was trashed when the woman moved out. "My property was left in shambles," she said.

But the former tenant's sister dismissed the accusation. She said her sister didn't trash the house.

Metzler estimated it could cost $2,500 to $4,000 to repair the house, including repainting the walls.

"There's trash everywhere," said Inga Porter, who manages the property for Metzler.

Pieces of a broken mirror littered the living room floor. A bathroom window was broken. Porter boarded up part of the window.

Metzler visited her now-vacant rental property last weekend and was shocked by the mess. "The only thing she didn't destroy was my kitchen cabinets," Metzler said of her former tenant.

Metzler worries that the woman will wind up doing the same thing to another landlord.

"The fact that she can go and use my tax dollars to wreck someone else's house irritates me no end," said Metzler.

Tucker said his agency would investigate the matter and may cancel the former tenant's eligibility for rental assistance.

He said tenants are kicked out of the program for various reasons such as dealing drugs, committing fraud, damaging rental property and failing to pay their share of the rent.

So far this year, East Missouri Action Agency has removed 27 Cape Girardeau County families from the rental-assistance program.

Tucker estimated that his agency removes about 40 families a year from the rental-assistance rolls in the seven counties served by his agency. "We have probably terminated more in the Cape area for drugs than in other areas," Tucker said.

If a person is arrested on a drug charge, he or she is automatically terminated from the program, Tucker said.

But Tucker said most of the estimated 1,200 families receiving rental assistance in the region are good tenants. The region covers Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, Iron, Perry, Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties.

"As a whole, we don't have too many problems," he said.

Tucker said there is heavy demand for the rental assistance. More than 1,300 people in the region are on the waiting list.

Rental housing in the program is limited, he said. A person can wait two to three years to be considered for the program.

It is a voluntary program on the part of landlords. They don't have to rent to program-eligible families.

The program depends on the cooperation of landlords, Tucker said.

"A lot of houses are marginal, but these families can't find anything else," he said.

Tucker said his agency, on occasion, has refused to pay landlords who don't take care of their rental housing.

He said there is a greater chance for problems in cases where there are absentee landlords who don't keep close tabs on their rental housing.