Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: In March 2002, AHF Community Development, LLC, a nonprofit affordable housing provider, acquired the Bent Creek Apartments in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas with funds from a bond issuance by the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation. AHF claimed in court that the City of Dallas violated the Fair Housing Act by devising a plan to shut down Bent Creek. AHF said the city made up building code violations to drive away residents and intimidate managers...

Facts: In a fair housing enforcement action, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the companies that owned and managed the Central Park Towers Apartments in Kansas City, Kansas, under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The suit also individually named a woman who worked for the companies as the property manager.

Facts: Trade associations representing cable operators and apartment building owners sued in federal court in Washington, D.C., to overturn an order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banning exclusivity agreements between cable companies and owners of multiple-unit buildings. In October 2007 the FCC ruled that the agreements, in which site managers give one company the exclusive right to provide cable service to their residents, unfairly dampened com...

Facts: After two resident shareholders in a cooperative housing development in Bayside, N.Y., acquired a dog, in violation of the cooperative's no-dogs policy, the development began eviction proceedings. The residents complained of discrimination, seeking to keep the dog as a reasonable accommodation. They presented evidence from health care providers showing that having a dog in the unit helped ameliorate their symptoms of depression.

Facts: After police found crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and drug paraphernalia in a public housing unit, the Housing Authority of Covington issued a notice of eviction to the resident. The resident claimed that she had no knowledge of drugs in her apartment and had not put them there. Her nephew, who visited from time to time, had. After learning of his arrest, she informed him to stay away, and he had not returned. However, the housing authority proceeded wit...

Facts: The City of Joliet, Ill., condemned a subsidized multifamily complex it believed to be so run-down that it constituted a public nuisance. The owners of Evergreen Terrace went to court to stop the city's condemnation, arguing that because the complex is a Section 8 development, federal law barred the city from acting. After the court ruled that Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. §1437f] does not preempt local law, HUD intervened in the...

Facts: A housing authority terminated Section 8 rental assistance after a voucher holder was involved in a violent altercation with a neighbor. Although the voucher holder had not been convicted of any crime, he had been charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault. Believing the resident's claim of self-defense, the manager of the private rental complex decided not to evict the resident based on the incident. However, the housing authority that issue...

Facts: An applicant for a rental unit in Tonawanda, N.Y., alleged that a site manager denied her housing because she has a family with children. After seeing a for-rent sign outside the Sherwood Terrace Apartments, the prospective renter spoke with the site manager by telephone and made an appointment to see a unit. When the site manager first saw the applicant, he asked if the two children accompanying her would be living with her. She said they would.

Facts: A public housing resident sued the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), claiming that the agency inadequately maintained garbage facilities at her building and created hazardous conditions for residents at the garbage collection site. The resident, who claims she is disabled, also alleged that NYCHA failed to accommodate her disability by keeping the elevator in her building in working order. The resident said that she is unable to walk without assista...

Facts: A New York resident used a Housing Choice Voucher provided by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to subsidize his rent for a unit in a privately owned apartment building in the Bronx. The resident, who claims he is disabled and unable to walk up or down steps, went to court alleging discrimination against him as a disabled individual. He told the court the building's owner failed to provide him access from his apartment on the fourth floor to ...