Recent Court Rulings

RSS

Facts: A Section 8 occupant sued the site owner, claiming that she was rightfully entitled to occupy the unit because she was the widow and licensee of the resident, who died in 2007.

At trial, the owner's sole witness was the site manager, who testified that the tenant of record was the occupant's husband. The site manager testified that the husband moved into the unit on July 1, 2007, and died five days later on July 6, 2007. The site manager further testified that the file for the unit did not contain any reference to the occupant.

Facts: A resident filed a complaint against the Omaha Housing Authority, claiming that the authority violated the Privacy Act and the Civil Rights Act because it illegally obtained her mother's financial information that indicated that her mother had helped her to buy a car.

Decision: The court ruled for the housing authority.

Facts: In June 2009, an owner gave written notice to a resident that she had breached the lease and must leave the premises. The next month, the owner filed an eviction case against the resident for failing to pay rent in a timely manner. In its lawsuit, the owner requested possession of the premises, judgment for the reasonable value of repairs for any damages to the premises, judgment for $139 representing past-due rent, interest at a rate of 10 percent per annum, and court costs and attorney's fees.

Facts: A postal carrier was injured by a pit bull while he was attempting to deliver mail to the front door of a rental house. The dog shoved the glass storm door open from inside the house and jumped onto the postal carrier, knocking him down. As a result, the postal carrier fractured his arm.

Facts: In September 2004, a site manager gave a new resident a copy of the lease along with the site's house rules, which contained the following:

• “Supervision problems will be grounds for eviction.

• “All children 10 and under must be supervised by an adult while outside.

• “Any damage to an apartment, the building, the common grounds, or upon the entire property of the apartment community, by a resident or a resident's family, invitees, or guests shall be charged to the tenant.

  
  

Facts: A resident was required to recertify by September 1 of each year. Around May 1, 2008, the site owner gave the resident the first reminder notice, followed by a second notice on June 2, 2008, and a third notice on July 1, 2008. Then, in a letter dated July 28, 2008, the owner advised the resident that she had not yet completed recertification. The September 1 deadline passed without the resident's recertifying.

Facts: An employee of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) began her career in October 1979 as a secretary. Twenty-five years later, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and in November 2006, she began an approved leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to deal with her condition. She returned to work in late February 2007.

Facts: A resident of a Boise city housing complex claimed that after he made a complaint to the management about maintenance, the city retaliated against him by filing eviction notices.

Facts: The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) subsidized the rents under HAP contracts between HUD and the owners of two Section 8 sites: Greenleaf Apartments and Sandburg Village Apartments. Both the Greenleaf and the Sandburg contracts establish rent amounts that obligate IHDA to make assistance payments in amounts equal to the difference between the contract rents and the payments made by residents.

Facts: In February 2009, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) initiated a nationwide request-for-proposal (RFP) to reduce the cost of management at Horner Housing Development by reducing the number of property management firms involved in the management of the complex.