Evicted

Quentin and Sherenna arrive back from their vacation in Jamaica. Sherenna has a voice message from the Hinkstons’ social worker, who mentions that Doreen is looking for a new place. Sherenna still wants the rent Doreen is withholding over the plumbing issue, so she gives Doreen an open eviction on CCAP, which will make it hard for her to move. Doreen calls and promises that she isn’t looking yet and says that she will pay Sherenna her money. Sherenna refuses. While she and Quentin drive around attending to various tenants, they comment that their tenants are spending money irresponsibly.

Quentin removes his jewelry while talking to tenants after someone commented that he was getting rich off their money. They visit a prospective tenant, a single mother called Ladona who is eager to move out of her crime-filled area. She has a housing voucher, and Sherenna and Quentin usually avoid taking on rent-assisted tenants because they come with “picky inspectors” in tow. However, the house Ladona wants is new, and thus likely to pass inspection, and taking on rent-assisted tenants has its upsides. Sherenna can rent at above market rate and it is almost certain that her money will come in each month on time, as 70% of it is paid by the state.

The Department of Housing sets a Fair Market Rent (FMR), an upper limit to the amount landlords can charge to rent-assisted tenants. The FMR is fairly high, in part to allow tenants to move into more prosperous areas. However, in reality this rarely happens; most rent-assisted tenants stay in similar neighborhoods as they would be in without housing vouchers. Sherenna knows the housing authority wouldn’t accept it if she charged Ladona the maximum rate, but she also knows she can get away with above-market rate. This kind of overcharging doesn’t greatly affect those on housing assistance, but does mean that more taxpayer money goes to landlords, meaning fewer people get housing vouchers in the first place.

The housing voucher program was invented by realtors, and was implemented after the American public housing system was “defunded and declared a failure (in that order).” The new house Ladona wants is Sherenna’s “pride and joy,” more expensive than the other properties she owns. Sherenna has been buying roughly one property per month since the foreclosure crisis, which has proven hugely lucrative for landlords like her. After the financial crash, property prices plummeted but rent stayed high. Sherenna finances her purchases through loans from the bank or rich investors who lend her the money with a high interest rate. 

Owning a home in a poor, black neighborhood is a terrible investment, but renting one out is a goldmine. Sherenna will make back the $16,000 she spent on the house Ladona will live in within two years. After paying her mortgage and other bills, Sherenna takes home about $10,000 a month, more than what many of her tenants earn in a year. She often says: “The ‘hood is good. There’s a lot of money there.” Quentin and Sherenna’s last visit of the day is to their furthest-flung property, on the West Side. Sherenna collects her rent from the tenant, who is on SSI for mental disabilities and is reluctant to hand it over. In the past, Sherenna has taken her tenants’ entire pay check; one even offered her debit card.

Doreen and Patrice try to figure out what to do about the eviction notice. They are struggling to find a new place to move into now that a recent eviction and debt to a landlord are on Doreen’s record. Doreen goes to the courthouse for her eviction hearing reluctantly. She rarely leaves the house, and currently has a foot injury which makes it difficult to walk. She tries to distract herself by thinking about Natasha’s unborn baby.

Sherenna has begun “dabbling” in rent-to-own schemes, in which she rents to a reliable tenant for six months while helping them to improve their credit score fast. The value of the houses she is trying to sell has soared since she bought them. She markets her rent-to-own service to SSI recipients, many of whom she believes originally lost their homes because they were not capable of remembering to pay the mortgage and need extra help. At the courthouse, Sherenna tells Doreen that if she wants to stay, she will have to pay an extra $400 the next month and extra $50 for the following three months. Doreen agrees.