Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: An owner of a Section 8 project-based site sued to evict a resident for false information she allegedly provided on her application for a unit. In August 2011, the resident completed an application in which she truthfully reported that she was employed by Walmart and was not on medical leave. Because there was no unit available at the time, the owner placed her name on a waiting list.

Facts: A local PHA terminated a resident from the Housing Choice Voucher program after learning that her husband had listed her unit as his mailing address. The resident and her husband were married in August 2002. A few months later, they separated and he moved out of the resident’s unit. After an informal hearing, the PHA concluded that he was residing in her household as an unauthorized occupant.

Facts: A resident visited the management office seeking a rent adjustment, which she believed was warranted by the recent termination of disability assistance that had been granted her after a difficult pregnancy. She gave a resident services associate some documentation that she believed established the loss of benefits. The associated pointed out to her that the documentation was inconclusive on the issue of whether the disability assistance had in fa...

Facts: A local PHA notified a resident that he had committed a “one-strike” violation when he had wrongfully assaulted one of its security guards, in violation of his lease agreement. The notice also stated that the resident had threatened to shoot another resident, while repeatedly knocking on her apartment door and calling her vile names, and inflict bodily harm upon members of the PHA’s staff.

Facts: A Section 8 resident challenged the local PHA’s decision to terminate his benefits. The resident claimed that he has a qualifying disability under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act. He further alleged that he requested an accommodation for his disability and the PHA failed to provide him with a reasonable accommodation.

Facts: A former manager of a Section 8 site sued her former employer for alleged age, race, and religious discrimination. The owner claimed that the manager was terminated for her failure to perform her duties in a professional manner.

Facts: A prospect with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher sued an owner for discrimination based on her status as a public assistance recipient in violation of the state's human rights act. The prospect found a listing for a three-bedroom unit with an advertised rent that was within the voucher program limits. She claimed that when she called the office to ask about renting the unit, she disclosed that she would be using a voucher to pay the rent an...

Facts: When a police officer was dispatched to a resident's unit to investigate a noise complaint, the officer detected the odor of recently burnt marijuana emanating from the unit and observed smoke lingering in the air. Two of the resident's guests told the officer that they had smoked marijuana in the unit.

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, allow[ing] arrears to accumulate over periods of months, and hav[ing] compelled the Landlord to commence numerous non-payment proceedings to collect rent" during the past 22 y...

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 when the conversation took place or provide any context for the exchange that occurred.