Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: A disabled Section 8 resident claimed the site owner discriminated against her on the basis of her disability by refusing to allow her sister and primary caretaker to live in her unit.

Facts: In late August 2017, a resident with a Section 8 voucher began house-sitting for her daughter while the daughter attended a funeral. The resident returned to her unit briefly on Sept. 4 and 11 and then returned permanently on Sept. 29. During the period the resident was away from her unit, the PHA tried to schedule two inspections of the unit. She didn’t receive either notice with sufficient time to be present for the scheduled inspections.

Facts: An owner sought to evict a resident from a HUD-subsidized apartment for material lease violations. A code enforcement officer for the city appeared as witness for the owner and testified that, after receiving a police-initiated complaint, he inspected the resident’s unit on Oct. 14, 2017. He observed minor problems, including roaches, a faulty smoke detector, a broken dishwasher, and the odor of cat urine. The issues were addressed, and the case was closed.

Facts: In 1982, a resident and her son moved into a project-based Section 8 site. A few years later, they were joined by the resident’s granddaughter. The resident lived in the unit until her death in 2015. And her granddaughter continues to live there, now with her three minor children.

Facts: In May 2014, a Section 8 resident and her three children moved into an apartment. In March 2016, after one child turned 18, he moved out of the apartment. In April 2017, the child repeatedly parked the resident’s car in other tenants’ parking spaces. The resident was notified that this was a lease violation and that, if her child continued to park the car in other tenants’ spots, the car would be towed. Her son apparently stopped parking the car in other tenants’ spots until Aug. 1, when the car was again found in another tenant’s spot.

Facts:   The lease of a HUD-subsidized resident states that each year he must recertify that he’s eligible to receive the rent subsidy. In early January 2017, the owner sent a reminder about the annual recertification and asked the resident to schedule an appointment on one of six days that month on which interviews were being conducted. The resident was unresponsive.

Facts: An elderly Section 8 resident with Alzheimer’s disease rented a studio apartment at a senior living community. After her diagnosis, based on her disability, she requested a reasonable accommodation to move “to preferably a two bedroom to accommodate a live-in caregiver or possible one bedroom.”

Facts: A Section 8 resident sued the owner and the local PHA for allegedly unlawfully evicting her from an apartment in retaliation for filing a small claims lawsuit against the owner. The resident asked a federal district court to reverse the eviction and require the PHA to reinstate her Section 8 voucher.

Facts: A public housing resident was arrested and charged with simple assault and terroristic threats as a result of an incident that occurred in a courtyard outside of an apartment at another site, approximately 1.2 miles from her residence. The complaining witness told police that the resident punched her face several times, drew a small black handgun from her pocket, pointed it at her face, and screamed “I’m going to kill you!”

Facts: A Section 8 voucher holder sued a local PHA for terminating his participation in the Section 8 voucher program. The resident initially received a voucher for a one-bedroom apartment but desired a two-bedroom voucher, asserting that he’s disabled and requires an additional bedroom to accommodate a live-in aide or extended visitor to help care for him. He made a “reasonable accommodation” request.