Recent Court Rulings

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Facts: On his application for Section 8 housing assistance, a resident identified a live-in aide as a member of his household, but did not disclose that the aide also owned the property in which he would be residing. Instead, his application stated that no member of his household owned any real estate.

Facts: The Hartford Housing Authority sought to terminate a resident's lease for conduct violating the lease. In its initial letter to the resident, the housing authority alleged that the resident didn't comply with its rules and regulations and requested that the resident attend a conference to discuss the matter. The letter indicated that the lease would terminate “unless these actions or their results can be and are corrected by you within 15 day...

Facts: A site owner evicted a resident without giving a reason for the termination, arguing that it did not have to do so because it did not take over the site occupied by the resident until more than a decade after it was converted to a housing development fund cooperative corporation. The owner claimed that the corporation did not have to operate under the same requirements and restrictions as a government-assisted housing entity.

Facts: Owners in Minnesota stopped accepting new Section 8 residents for their property, using a two-phase plan to not renew the leases of existing residents. In 2005 and 2006, they did not renew Section 8 leases for one- and two-bedroom units; in 2006 and 2007, they did not renew Section 8 leases for three-bedroom townhouses.

Facts: A disabled applicant sought rental assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher program. In a separate letter to the housing authority, he also sought reasonable accommodations on account of his and his spouse's disabilities and specifically asked for “special preference admissions from a waiting list.”

Facts: A site owner filed a complaint in an Ohio state court, claiming that a resident failed to comply with the terms of her lease by: (1) allowing unauthorized persons to reside in the unit; (2) allowing visitors to disturb the rights and comfort of neighbors; and (3) failing to report changes in household income.

Facts: A Section 8 occupant sued the site owner, claiming that she was rightfully entitled to occupy the unit because she was the widow and licensee of the resident, who died in 2007.

At trial, the owner's sole witness was the site manager, who testified that the tenant of record was the occupant's husband. The site manager testified that the husband moved into the unit on July 1, 2007, and died five days later on July 6, 2007. The site manager furt...

Facts: A resident filed a complaint against the Omaha Housing Authority, claiming that the authority violated the Privacy Act and the Civil Rights Act because it illegally obtained her mother's financial information that indicated that her mother had helped her to buy a car.

Decision: The court ruled for the housing authority.

Facts: In June 2009, an owner gave written notice to a resident that she had breached the lease and must leave the premises. The next month, the owner filed an eviction case against the resident for failing to pay rent in a timely manner. In its lawsuit, the owner requested possession of the premises, judgment for the reasonable value of repairs for any damages to the premises, judgment for $139 representing past-due rent, interest at a rate of 10 percent per ann...

Facts: A postal carrier was injured by a pit bull while he was attempting to deliver mail to the front door of a rental house. The dog shoved the glass storm door open from inside the house and jumped onto the postal carrier, knocking him down. As a result, the postal carrier fractured his arm.