Housing Authority Executive Director: Boost In Local Section 8 Rent Subsidies May Curb Illegal Side Deals Where Landlords Squeeze Tenants Fearful Of Losing Their Apartments For Secret, Under-The-Table Extra Cash

In Hazelton, Pennsylvania, the Standard-Speaker reports:

• Rents for subsidized housing have increased so landlords might curb demands for extra money from tenants through unauthorized deals, the executive director of the Hazleton Housing Authority said.
  
  Dorothy George said some landlords want higher rent than the Section 8 program allowed so they asked tenants to secretly pay more cash.
  
  Such deals violate policy, George said, but they probably have occurred for decades and rarely come to light. Afraid of losing homes, tenants pay extra and keep silent. Sometimes the landlords need more money to cover expenses for the properties.
  
  Other times, they’re just greedy.
  
  In one case that George learned of, a landlord repaid extra charges to a tenant who kept receipts and phone messages and threatened court action.

For the story, see Authority adjusts subsidized housing rents to entice landlords. side payments