Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: A spouse of a voucher holder claimed that the local PHA deprived her of her due process rights by denying her the opportunity to be heard at a hearing to determine the termination of a voucher held by her husband. She wasn’t the voucher holder herself.

Facts: In a consolidated lawsuit, over 300 PHAs sued the United States for breach of contract. They claimed that HUD breached their Annual Contributions Contracts (ACC) in 2012 when it didn’t comply with the rules set forth at Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations that govern the allocation of operating subsidies when funds are not available to pay them in full.

Facts: A public housing resident signed a year-long lease. The lease stated that it “shall automatically be renewed for successive terms of 12 months” unless modified or terminated in accordance with certain lease provisions. On the day of signing, the resident met with a site employee, to review the lease terms. At that meeting, the resident was accompanied by the father of her three children. The employee asked her if the father would be living in the apartment, and she said that he would not be part of the household.

Facts: The family of a 16-year-old boy sued a site owner over the shooting death of the boy outside of his cousin’s apartment. According to an affidavit of the property manager, the boy was shot by a visitor of a resident. Another resident testified that the shooter had been staying at his girlfriend’s apartment at the site for two years. The shooter was the father of one of the resident’s children, and he would stay and babysit his child while the resident worked.

Facts: A public housing resident appealed the dismissal of her civil rights suit against the local PHA and its property manager for alleged racial discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). In the original complaint, the resident alleged that during an encounter late in 2014, the property manager racially discriminated against her and harassed her on account of her child-custody issues. Because she is white and her male partner is black, the resident believed that race motivated the actions of the manager, who is also black.

Facts: After the local PHA successfully obtained a court order to evict a resident, the resident filed a First Amendment retaliation claim against the PHA and a false arrest charge against police officers. The resident claimed that she was unlawfully retaliated against by the local PHA for tenant organizing, a form of speech she contends is protected by the First Amendment.

Facts: A public housing resident asked a court for a special proceeding to review a determination by the local PHA that she had violated certain provisions of her lease and, thus, was justified in terminating her tenancy.

Facts: A Section 8 resident lived with a live-in aide. Only the resident was on the lease. When the heating and air conditioning unit was damaged, the owner blamed the resident, threatening to evict her. In March 2016, the resident was served with a notice to vacate the property. Despite taking the resident to court, the owner didn’t evict her. But again in May 2016, the owner served the resident with an eviction notice, stating that her $81 portion of the rent wasn’t paid.

Facts: Household members sued the local PHA, alleging that the PHA was negligent because it failed to eradicate a bedbug infestation condition. The residents claimed that the condition began in 2012 and continued to date. The PHA admitted that the unit had bedbugs on and off over a period of time, but denied any liability. The residents asked the court for a ruling on the issue of the PHA’s liability for failing to eradicate bedbugs in the unit.

Facts: An owner sought to evict a Section 8 resident. The resident asked the court to dismiss the case based on an allegedly defective termination notice.