Powell v. Hous. Auth. of Pittsburgh

812 A.2d 1201 (Pa. 2002) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55070

Description

Because of Family Member’s Criminal Activity, Housing Authority May Terminate Section 8 Assistance Without Proving That Activity Threatened Health and Safety of Others in Vicinity

Abstract

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed appellant public housing authority (PHA), without having to satisfy 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii), to terminate Section 8 tenant’s assistance because of the violent criminal activity of tenant’s family members. PHA terminated appellee Section 8 tenant’s assistance after her two teenaged sons carjacked a vehicle in a parking lot about a mile from tenant’s apartment. The court of common pleas reinstated her assistance, and the commonwealth court affirmed. Concluding that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s regulations were excessive in scope, the commonwealth court held that a PHA had authority to terminate Section 8 assistance only for violent criminal activity threatening the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of other residents or persons residing in the immediate vicinity of the Section 8 dwelling. Applying Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984), the supreme court concluded that Congress had not plainly and unambiguously expressed its intent as to whether a PHA had authority to terminate, based on a family member’s violent criminal activity, Section 8 assistance without having to satisfy Section 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii) and that the regulations, insofar as having no Section 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii) standard, were a “permissible construction” of Section 8 and entitled to deference. The supreme court, reversing the commonwealth court, held that a PHA had authority to terminate Section 8 benefits because of a family member’s violent criminal activity without having to prove that the activity threatened the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents or those of persons residing in the immediate vicinity of the Section 8 premises.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Docket Date
2002-12-20 00:00:00+00:00

Files

Filed under: