Henry Horner Mothers Guild v. Chicago Housing Authority

No. 91 C 3316 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 31,2001).; Clearinghouse Number: 46823

Description

District Court Denies Motion for Contempt Against Housing Authority and Its Manager but Encourages Face to Face Communication Between Parties

Abstract

The court denied plaintiffs’ motion to hold defendant Chicago Housing Authority and its management company in contempt for failure to comply with the terms of the amended consent decree. However, the court clarified that the management company was within the court’s contempt power and stated that it “needs to make some adjustments.” Plaintiffs asserted that defendants failed to communicate or cooperate with the residents’ committee and plaintiffs’ counsel, as the consent decree required. Plaintiffs claimed specifically that defendants failed to inform them about the tenant assignment process, skipped over families who had already been approved and should be placed first in vacant units, obstructed the Section 8 relocation process by failing to certify families as lease compliant so that they could begin relocation counseling, failed to furnish supporting documents in “for cause” eviction cases; violated the split family policy by threatening to evict class members who sought their own housing units, conducted housekeeping inspections without consulting plaintiffs and contrary to the terms of tenants’ leases, unilaterally implemented an automobile parking and towing policy, and sought unilaterally to impose a mandatory program linking residents to social services. The court described the last dispute as the most serious; plaintiffs alleged that the program raised a conflict of interest based on its relationship with a commissioner of defendant housing authority. The court asked the parties to agree on language clarifying that the program was voluntary and that other social service providers would also be available. The court also stated its general expectation that defendants would include the residents’ committee and plaintiffs’ counsel in decision making and refrain from “announc[ing] policy as a fait accompli.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by William Wilen, Greg Knapp, National Center on Poverty Law, 205 W. Monroe St., 2d Floor, Chicago, IL (312.263.3830).
Docket Date
2001-08-31 05:00:00+00:00
Attorney Email
williamwilen@povertylaw.org,