Recent Court Rulings

RSS

Facts: A public housing resident appealed a trial court order granting possession of her apartment to the owner based on her violation of a settlement agreement. The resident claimed she didn’t breach the agreement. Specifically, she asserted that the owner failed to establish her conduct affected the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the community.

Facts: A resident asked a court to overturn a local PHA’s decision to terminate her participation in the Section 8 program. The PHA sought to terminate the resident’s benefits because she didn’t report the births of two of her grandchildren in the household within 30 days as required by PHA’s administrative plan, and because she failed to pay rent for several months, which was claimed to be a “serious or repeated” lea...

Facts: After a local PHA placed an applicant for the Section 8 voucher program on a waiting list, the applicant claimed that he was entitled to, and has been denied, preferential treatment due to his mental disabilities, which include bipolar disorder/manic depression, schizoaffective disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Facts: A resident who has lived at a site managed by a local PHA for over 10 years sued the PHA, claiming that the PHA, as his landlord, attempted to have him sign a “lease that doesn’t have in it the accommodation for people with disabilities which is HUD regulation that is suppose[d] to be put in the lease.” The PHA asked the court for a judgment without a trial in its favor.

Ruling: A Mississippi district cour...

Facts: A disabled resident sued the local PHA for alleged 14th Amendment violations. He claimed that the PHA failed to provide safe and habitable housing by failing to protect him from his neighbors’ unwanted contacts and the obstacles his neighbor placed on the sidewalks near his apartment.

Facts: A resident who qualified for a Section 8 housing subsidy signed a lease agreement identifying her as the sole occupant of the unit. In March 2015, the owner issued a notice demanding the resident cease activity that violated the lease.

Facts: A resident sued an owner for unlawful discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The resident claimed that the property manager discriminated against her because she is a Jehovah’s Witness and retaliated against her after she filed religious discrimination complaints with HUD and the state’s Human Rights Commission.

Facts: For her entire life, a resident has lived in a subsidized apartment. Her mother, the previous leaseholder, kept a dog in the apartment prior to her death in August 2013. After her mother’s passing, the resident obtained legal guardianship over four of her nieces and nephews, who also were living in the apartment.

Facts: A resident and his fiancé sued an owner for housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, and familial status. The complaints were based on certain exchanges they had with property management and staff. According to the lawsuit, a maintenance technician “repeatedly insult[ed]” the resident “in the presence of other residents.” In April 2015, they wrote to the regional manager to request that the...

Facts: In early 2013, federal government cuts in discretionary spending resulted in a $21 million reduction in funding for a local housing authority’s voucher program. To address this decrease in funding, the housing authority made significant revisions to its administration of the Section 8 program.