Recent Court Rulings

PHA Didn’t Prove Resident's Violent Tendencies

August 15, 2012    

Facts: A PHA filed an eviction lawsuit against a resident based on drug-related criminal activity and an altercation with a neighbor that disturbed other neighbors.

The resident was arrested for driving under the influence of psychotropic medication in August 2011. A year...

Owner Must Show Material Noncompliance with Lease

August 15, 2012    

Facts: The lease between an owner and a Section 8 resident included an addendum providing that "[t]he owner shall not terminate the lease except for ... [m]aterial noncompliance with the lease." The addendum further specified that before terminating the lease, the...

PHA Properly Denied Section 8 Application

July 28, 2012    

Facts: In March 2010, an applicant applied to a PHA for admission into the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. The PHA denied her application based on the results of her criminal background check, indicating that she didn't provide evidence of rehabilitation, and because, at the...

PHA Not Liable for Age Discrimination

July 28, 2012    

Facts: An elderly resident in a federally assisted housing complex sued the local housing authority, the city's mayor, and the local council government for alleged criminal activity targeted at elderly residents at her site.

PHA Not Liable for Employment Discrimination

July 28, 2012    

Facts: A resident who was a construction worker sued the local PHA and a construction company that did work at the site for discrimination. The worker was employed by a roofing company that was a subcontractor for the construction company. He claimed that his hours were significantly...

Resident Can't Get Voucher While Lawsuit Is Pending

July 28, 2012    

Facts: A PHA issued a Section 8 housing voucher to a resident in December 2008. The resident was notified in September 2011 that he was being terminated from the voucher program for failing to report a change in family income. The apparent change in income was a decrease in the resident...

Owner Can't Require HUD to Settle Section 8 Dispute

June 30, 2012    

Facts: An owner participating in the Section 8 program asked a court to require the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to intervene in his city's “personal-vendetta-driven” administration of its Section 8 program. The owner claimed that city...

PHA Must Postpone Disabled Resident's Eviction

June 30, 2012    

Facts: Two residents signed a lease in June 2010, in which one was identified as the “tenant” and the other was identified as “co-tenant.” One day, the co-tenant confronted his neighbor and physically struck him. The neighbor then filed a complaint with the police...

Evidence of Drug Possession Needed to Terminate Section 8 Benefits

June 30, 2012    

Facts: Police officers searched a resident's daughter and found an envelope containing white powder in her pocketbook. At the time of the search, the daughter told the officers that it was not hers and that she didn't know what it was. She was then told by an officer at the scene...

PHA Can Evict Current Drug User

June 30, 2012    

Facts: A resident was arrested near her apartment complex and later charged with possession of cocaine and resisting law enforcement officers. Three weeks later, the PHA sent the resident a “Notice to Terminate Lease.” The notice stated that the PHA was terminating her lease...

Applicant May Not Take Over Mother's Lease

June 8, 2012    

Facts: After a resident passed away, her son asked the PHA to consider him as a “remaining family member.” According to the PHA's policy, a remaining family member is a member of the original tenant family and may succeed to a former resident's lease if he or she is...

Owner Needs Valid Reason to Evict Resident

June 8, 2012    

Facts: An owner sued to evict a low-income resident from a unit that was part of a privately operated site developed on city-owned land with assistance from a local redevelopment agency. Her annual lease had been twice renewed and her rent subsidy approved through the end of the fiscal...