Recent Court Rulings

Owner Didn't Prove Chronic Rent Delinquency

February 17, 2014    

Facts: A 73-year-old Section 8 resident was served with a 10-day eviction notice. The notice claimed that the resident had violated a substantial obligation of her lease agreement by "exhibit[ing] a chronic and systematic propensity for paying [her] rent late each month,...

PHA Not Liable for Discrimination

February 17, 2014    

Facts: A Section 8 resident sued her local PHA and an employee for discrimination against her due to her race, religion, and an undisclosed learning disability. The basis of the lawsuit stemmed from a conversation the resident had with the employee. The resident didn’t say...

Resident Can't Sue PHA for Injuries

January 21, 2014    

Facts: A resident in a public housing complex operated by the local PHA slipped and fell in a puddle of water that had leaked from a broken washing machine in a nearby laundry room as she was walking to her unit through a common hallway of her building. The fall resulted in...

PHA May Be Liable for Playground Injury

January 21, 2014    

Facts: A resident’s daughter tripped and fell in a playground owned, operated, and maintained by the local PHA. The daughter was playing with a soccer ball in the playground. At one point, the ball traveled into a nearby planter. The daughter went into the planter to...

PHA May Be Liable for Slip-and-Fall Accident

January 21, 2014    

Facts: A resident sued her local PHA after she slipped and fell on exterior steps covered in snow and ice. The steps connected the plaza outside her building to a park area that leads to an adjacent public roadway. At trial, the PHA didn’t dispute that it had constructive...

Annual Drug Testing May Constitute Unreasonable Bodily Search

December 24, 2013    

Facts: As a condition of occupancy at a privately owned, mixed-income residential development, residents are required to submit to annual drug testing. When five residents refused to submit to the drug test even though they had previously consented to drug testing, the owners...

PHA Can Evict Resident for Grandson’s Crimes

December 24, 2013    

Facts: A local PHA sought to evict a resident because of the criminal conduct of her grandson. The trial court granted the eviction, but did so based on grounds that weren’t included in either of the two eviction notices served on her or in the complaint filed against her...

PHA Not Liable for Inspection Delay, Including Son’s Income

December 24, 2013    

Facts: A resident sued the local PHA for allegedly depriving her of her due process rights by failing to give her an informal hearing to challenge: (1) the PHA’s calculation of her 2010 housing subsidy; (2) the PHA’s use of an inflated estimate of her income; and (3...

Resident Must Move to One-Bedroom or Pay Market Rate

December 24, 2013    

Facts: A site manager sought to relocate a Section 8 resident from her two-bedroom unit to a smaller unit because the manager deemed the resident ineligible for the subsidized two-bedroom unit. The resident had occupied the two-bedroom unit since 2005, when she initially shared...

Daughter Can't Get Succession Rights to Resident's Unit

December 24, 2013    

Facts: Three days prior to a resident’s death, her daughter sought the site manager’s permission to reside in her mother’s unit. The daughter stated that she resided in the unit since 2004 at the request of her mother, who was sick and required a liver...

Court Upholds Monthly Recertification Meetings for Zero-Income Resident

November 14, 2013    

Facts: A resident challenged the termination of her Section 8 housing assistance for failure to attend monthly income-recertification hearings. In August 2012, she applied to the local housing authority to transfer her Section 8 voucher from another city, certifying in the...

Resident Can Operate Daycare Business from Unit

November 14, 2013    

Facts: An owner started eviction proceedings against a resident for operating a daycare business in her unit, which is located in a HUD building where the resident had lived for 35 years. On the date of the trial, attorneys for both parties entered into a formal agreement to...