Live-In Aide Has No Continued Right to Occupy Apartment

Facts: A disabled resident received permission to have her son live with her as a live-in aide. The son signed a live-in aide agreement in which he agreed he was an “employee of Lou White” and that he “ha[d] no other rights to the unit. After the resident passed away, the son didn’t vacate the apartment immediately. He spoke to property managers about transferring the unit into his name. He was told he couldn’t live in the two-bedroom unit by himself and that he had no continued right to occupy the unit after his mother’s passing. In response, he attempted to add his 6-year-old nephew to a lease.

The son refused to move out and sued for money damages and an injunction. He sued the owner, claiming that the owner refused live-in aides’ housing in an unconstitutional manner. The owner asked the court to dismiss the case.

Ruling: An Arkansas district court granted the owner’s request.

Reasoning: The basis of the son’s claim was that he acquired some property interest in his mother’s apartment after becoming a live-in aide, and when the owner refused to allow him to remain in the apartment after her passing, his property interest was impaired. According to the court, this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how one acquires property interests in an apartment. A property interest arises from a written lease agreement for the unit in question, rather than simply occupying the unit as caregiver. Here, there was no lease agreement between the son and the owner, and his only right to occupy the apartment was premised on him providing caregiving services to his mother.

• Daniels v. BSM HUD, July 2017