Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: In February 2007, a sewer backed up in Wheatland Homes, a public housing complex managed by the North Newton Housing Authority. The complex's executive director met with maintenance personnel and asked whether any of the other units in the fourplex had been checked for damage. Upon learning that they had not, he directed maintenance personnel to do so.

Facts: In 1990, after two years as property manager, an African-American employee of the St. Clair Housing Authority informed his supervisor that he had an interest in the position of director of property management. The supervisor selected a white man for the position, and the property manager was promoted to operations supervisor, supervising three to four property managers and developing screening criteria for public housing applicants.

Facts: As a result of conditions found at an annual unit inspection, the site owner terminated a resident's lease. At a formal grievance hearing in February 2009, the hearing officer supported the owner's decision to terminate the lease as a result of several lease violations, including damage to the outside garage door, soiled carpets, and children's crayon markings on the walls of the unit.

Facts: A resident who was living on the third floor of a building that did not have an elevator gave the site manager a note from her physician, requesting that she be moved to any available first-floor unit because her physical condition prevented her from engaging in strenuous activity. The resident claimed to suffer from a variety of medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, depression, and asthma. Over the next few years, the resident made numerous oral requests to rent a first-floor unit in exchange for her unit on the third floor.

Facts: The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) undertook the eviction of a resident who assaulted his twin brother on public housing development grounds, claiming that he constituted a threat to the safety of other tenants. The resident, in turn, claimed that he had a mental disability and argued that the BHA should have tried to reasonably accommodate his disability before terminating his tenancy.

Facts: The New York City Housing Authority took action to terminate the tenancy of a resident for being chronically late in paying rent. The resident claimed that the housing authority improperly denied him a grievance hearing to contest its actions to evict him. The housing authority claimed, however, that the resident failed to meet the requirements for filing a grievance and had previously chosen not to attend several other applicable hearings. The resident sued the housing authority in federal district court. The housing authority asked the court to dismiss the case.

Facts: Morton LLC, a residential property owner subject to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO), served notices of eviction on residents because it wanted to raise the rent on units on its housing property.

Facts: In late 2004, a site manager with 13 years' experience overseeing low- to middle-income housing at Southside in Brooklyn, N.Y., took a one-month personal leave to care for her sister. While she was away on leave, Southside's housing director issued a memorandum admonishing her for “many discrepancies with the tenants' files, such as expired leases, incomplete or missing recertifications, and missing files or documentation.”

Facts: In April 2007, a resident signed a lease with Garden View, a nonprofit organization that provides subsidized housing for individuals living with HIV/AIDS and their families in Chicago. Garden View's property manager reviewed the lease provisions, including the prohibition against illegal drug activity, with the resident when he signed the lease.

Facts: In April 2007, a lead inspector from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development of the City of New York (HPD) visited a unit in a residential building on West 157th Street and found nine lead-paint violations. Under the city's lead-based paint law, the presence of peeling or deteriorated lead-based paint in a residential unit where a child lives is a hazard requiring immediate correction. After removing the hazard, the owner must certify that the unit is lead-safe.