In the News
April 12, 2013
On March 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in case filed by a housing authority against the United States, alleging that the government breached a low-income housing assistance payments contract by requiring the authority to submit rent comparability studies to receive...
Recent Court Rulings
April 12, 2013
Facts: A native Spanish-speaking resident with limited English proficiency claimed that despite numerous requests to the local PHA to provide language translation services, she had been rebuffed each time. As a result, all major communications, as well as her lease, had been provided to her in...
Recent Court Rulings
April 12, 2013
Facts: A resident’s dog attacked a woman as she walked by the site on a roadway. The dog-bite victim sued the site owner for negligence for failing to: (1) adequately screen his residents; (2) enter into an agreement whereby the residents were prohibited from having and keeping vicious dogs...
Recent Court Rulings
April 12, 2013
Facts: A Section 8 resident lived in her unit for 26 years, since she came to the United States from Afghanistan. On Nov. 16, 2009, she met with the PHA, after it issued a notice that her Section 8 assistance would be suspended or terminated, due to inaccurate financial information on the annual...
The Trainer
April 11, 2013
GETTING KEY INFORMATION FROM APPLICANTS; HANDLING ALIMONY AND CHILD SUPPORT
In this month’s feature, we discussed what information to ask for in your applications. If you don’t get the proper information, you could end up admitting an ineligible or inappropriate household. Or you could...
Feature
March 18, 2013
Some of the most important, and often overlooked, sources of fair housing complaints arise from maintenance operations. Sites may face allegations of discriminatory maintenance policies or procedures—for example, that requests from white members are routinely pushed ahead of those from...
Compliance
March 18, 2013
Initially passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) created the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combating violence. VAWA was reauthorized by...
In the News
March 18, 2013
In a memo to staff sent on Feb. 28, Deputy HUD Secretary Maurice Jones said “the impact of sequestration on HUD programs will be dramatic.” The Secretary has testified that over 200,000 people will lose their HUD-funded housing assistance and that HUD must also reduce its salaries and...
In the News
March 18, 2013
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, The National Fair Housing Alliance, and Poverty & Race Research Action Council recently issued a report entitled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing at HUD: A First Term Report Card Part II” that looks at HUD’s record...
Recent Court Rulings
March 18, 2013
Facts: In the late 1990s, a resident became employed for the first time as a bookkeeper. But she failed to disclose her new earnings to the site owner, each year stating in an affidavit of income that she didn’t work. This omission allowed her to pay a substantially lower rent than she would...
