Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: A disabled resident sued the owner and management of a low-income senior housing site for discrimination and retaliation. After receiving an announcement that the site was opening its Section 8 waiting list, the resident completed an application for the Section 8 housing. He claimed he got a letter from the assistant manager stating that his name was next on the list for Section 8 rental assistance and that there was one Section 8 studio apartment available.

Facts: A Section 8 resident signed a one-year lease, which required her to pay a security deposit and $465 each month. Shortly after moving in, the resident thought she heard bats in the walls of her unit.  She began to run the water for extended periods of time, including overnight, in an effort to scare the bats away. Also, at about the same time, the resident found the heat in her unit inadequate. To increase the heat, she turned on her gas stove and opened the oven door.

Facts: After a hearing, a PHA terminated a resident’s Section 8 voucher and denied her request for reasonable accommodation. The resident then sued the PHA for allegedly violating her due process rights.

Facts: An occupant sued the local PHA for discrimination for failure to lease him the unit in which he claimed he had resided with his mother before her death.

As a child, the occupant moved with his mother and her husband into the unit. But records show that he moved out of the unit in 1976. His mother continued to live in the unit after her son's departure and until she died in July 2007. At the time of her death, she was the unit’s tenant of record and its sole authorized occupant.

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 earlier, in September 2010, the resident had an altercation with her neighbor that led to the neighbor calling the police. The PHA alleged that the resident assaulted the neighbor.

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 owner must give the resident written notice stating the date of termination, explaining the reasons for the termination, and notifying the resident of her right to present defenses in a court action.

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.

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 time of her application, she owed money to another PHA.

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 reduced by the roofing company and that the PHA and the construction company were aware of this reduction and permitted it to continue.

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's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and an increase in his two daughters' Social Security Disability Income (SSDI).