Renfroe v. Housing Authority of New Orleans

No. 03-3613 (E.D. La. filed, July 19, 2004) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55715

Description

Public Housing Tenants Complaint for Relocation Assistance Not Barred for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

Abstract

The district court denied defendant housing authority’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ suit to be compensated for relocation cost. Defendant argued for dismissal on grounds that plaintiff public housing tenants displaced from New Orleans housing developments had not exhausted administrative remedies. In their suit, plaintiffs alleged that, because redevelopment of their public housing site was funded by HOPE VI (Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere), they were entitled to protection under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1974, also known as the Uniform Relocation Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4621 et seq. Plaintiffs asserted that housing authority violated the Uniform Relocation Act by failing to operate the relocation assistance program adequately addressing the needs of displaced families. Plaintiffs alleged that they did not receive supplemental utilities allowance due them under the Uniform Relocation Act. Moving to dismiss plaintiffs’ complaint and citing Wallace v. Chicago Housing Authority, 298 F. Supp. 2d 710 (N.D. Ill. 2003) (Clearinghouse No. 55,072), defendants claimed that the Administrative ProcedureAct was the exclusive remedy for Uniform Relocation Act claims. The district court did not believe that Wallace applied in this case. Citing Darby v. Cisneros, 113 S. Ct. 2539 (1993), the court explained that the Uniform Relocation Act subchapter under which the case was brought did not mandate an administrative appeal prior to judicial review.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by Charles M. Delbaum, Laura A. Tuggle, New Orleans Legal Assistance, 1010 Common St., Suite 1400A, New Orleans, LA 70112 (telephone number: 504.529.1000).
Docket Date
2004-07-19 00:00:00+00:00
Attorney Email
cmdelbaum@nolac.org, latuggle@nolac.org