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Welfare Payments: May I Inquire?

Checking on a tenant's welfare checks

I need advice on how to get information from Welfare regarding whether a recipient has received a check or not. I have had many tenants who say Welfare gave them money to cover the first and last months' rent. But when the second month's rent is due, they tell me their check has been delayed and they're short on money. Welfare will tell you it can't discuss recipients. But if landlords can check on employers and last residences, why can't we get information from Welfare?

The workers at the Public Assistance office were right to turn down your request. Perhaps the sagacity of that refusal would seem more clear if you don the shoes of the other people involved for a mile or two. The office workers cannot be responsible for tracking or directing how a check must be spent. And the recipient should be able to retain some privacy about personal finances.

While it is aggravating and dismaying to lose rental income, your only recourse is the often slow but sure legal process of eviction. If you want to speed things up, file the eviction papers the first month the rent is late; do not allow the tenant to use rent intended to cover the last month's rent any earlier than the actual last month. In many places, you can check court records to find out whether a prospective tenant has had a history of being evicted -- a bit of snooping that may save you future angst.

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