Security contractor keeps tabs on Section 8 tenants
By Bettie Fennell
Staff Writer
July 17, 2004
When it comes to crime reduction and lease enforcement, former Wilmington Housing Authority employee and one-time New York City police officer, Joe Guarascio is a leaner – and hairier – Mr. Clean.
Mr. Guarascio, who was also a crime prevention specialist with WHA, has a company that provides services to Section 8 landlords who have problems with tenants, and monitors a variety of properties for homeowners' associations, banks and other groups.
Joe Guarascio, a former Wilmington Housing Authority employee and former New York City police officer, inspects a rental unit in Wilmington.Once a month, he does a physical inspection inside and outside houses and apartments, takes pictures of the condition of the units, notes whether they have been damaged or if there is evidence of criminal activity.
He looks for trash on the property and checks to see whether people not on Section 8 leases appear to be living in the houses. He reports his findings to the owners, who can then take preventative measures by evicting troublesome tenants before the problems get out of hand.
As an example of the success of monthly inspections and monitoring, he points to a reduction in crime in the Village of Greenfield, formerly Garden Lake Estates, after his company began inspecting Section 8 housing.
Section 8 is a federal program that provides rental vouchers to low-income families so they can rent on the open market.
"Garden Lake a year ago was a nightmare," said Mr. Guarascio, president of Interpol Special Police Services. He was referring to criminal activity in the development off Greenfield Street.
He currently has more than 300 apartments or houses under contract in New Hanover County and the city of Wilmington. Not all are Section 8 units. But he hopes to get a contract with the Wilmington Housing Authority to monitor all of its properties, including its Section 8 apartments.
The Housing Authority, which recently bought two apartment complexes off Princess Place Drive, plans to turn all the units into Section 8 apartments.
A monthly inspection of the units, Mr. Guarascio said, "forces the tenants to conform to the lease." If they don't, he will collect the evidence and go to court with landlords who are trying to evict problem tenants.
Earlier this month, a former Section 8 tenant who wants to get her $750 deposit back sued Sue and Bryan Roles, of Hampstead, in Small Claims Court. But the Roleses contend she did more than $750 in damage and filed a counterclaim. The tenant's suit was dismissed without prejudice because she failed to give the required 30-day notice to the Roleses to assess damages before returning the deposit or keeping it to cover damages.
"It doesn't matter what you prove," Mrs. Roles said Friday. "They are not held responsible for the damages to your home."
Mrs. Roles questioned whether landlords could require tenants to allow monthly inspections.
"I guess maybe in a way if you could physically see things, it would be beneficial," she said. But landlords still have to follow processes that she believes don't adequately protect them.
Even if landlords win their cases and get judgments against the tenants, there are no guarantees that the landlords will get compensation for damages to their houses, she said.
Mr. Guarascio said he also provides other services, including recommendations on how to reduce criminal activity. For example, he will assess the lighting on your property as well as the vegetation to determine whether it needs to be trimmed.
(Reprinted from StarNewsOnline.com)
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