Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: In the late 1990s, a resident became employed for the first time as a bookkeeper. But she failed to disclose her new earnings to the site owner, each year stating in an affidavit of income that she didn’t work. This omission allowed her to pay a substantially lower rent than she would have had she revealed the income.

Facts: A resident filed a complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) against the owner for housing discrimination based on her race and her disabilities. She claimed that the management company treated her differently in the way it calculated a one-time subsidy for utility payments. She received a one-time annual utility credit in the amount of $225 from Life Line Credit Program of the State of New Jersey. The management company counte...

Facts: A local housing authority denied a granddaughter’s request to succeed as a remaining family member to the unit formerly leased to her deceased grandmother. She’s 29 years old and claimed to have moved into her grandmother’s unit when she was 3 years old. She also claimed to have continuously resided in the unit since moving in.

Facts: A former employee sued the housing authority to recover unpaid wages and benefits allegedly owed to him under the Davis-Bacon Act. This federal law establishes the requirement for paying the local prevailing wages on public works projects. It applies to “contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000 for the construction, alteration, or repair (including painting and decorating) of pu...

Facts: A resident sued the owner, manager, and security guard for allegedly violating her rights under the Fair Housing Act. One morning, the site’s security guard detained three young boys who had placed traffic cones in the street and told them to sit on the curb while he contacted their parents. Seeing these events, the resident approached the guard, who asked if she was a parent to one of the boys. She said she was not.

Facts: A former resident sued the local housing authority for allegedly violating her due process rights when it terminated her Section 8 assistance after an informal hearing. The hearing officer found that the resident’s husband had been living as an unauthorized occupant in her unit while she was receiving assistance.

Facts: Following neighbors’ complaints to management and after receiving at least one letter titled “Disturbing the Peaceful Enjoyment,” a resident received a notice to vacate her unit. The management cited her unit as a meeting place for narcotics dealers and pointed to the sale of narcotics in and around the premises as its reason for the eviction. The notice further indicated that the resident was previously warned about the lease v...

Facts: A former resident sued the local housing authority for allegedly violating her due process rights when they terminated her Section 8 voucher. The voucher paid all of the resident’s $875 monthly rent. In her termination letter, the housing authority stated that she failed to submit her recertification package, failed to attend her recertification appointment, and violated her lease.

Facts: A PHA resident lived in a unit with her three daughters. Before traveling abroad, she gave her adult son a key "to check on the apartment." While the resident was away, firefighters entered her unit and found a dog tied to a radiator near a stove, which had all four burner knobs on, but with only one lit pilot. A maintenance worker had notified the fire department of a noxious odor coming from the resident's unit, and the resident c...

Facts: An applicant sued a local PHA for denying her application for low-income housing. The PHA had denied the application due to her prior conviction for involuntary manslaughter. Under the PHA’s stated admissions and occupancy policy, an applicant with a conviction for involuntary manslaughter is ineligible, and is denied participation in the program for life. The applicant appealed the denial, and the PHA held a grievance hearing. The hearing ...