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FH Laws & Cases
Statutes, Ordinances, Regulations, Court Decisions, HUD Complaints, DOJ Cases, NWFHA complaints, Legal Discussion Topics. |
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Court Decisions |
National Origin
Spokesman-Review - Monday, April 2, 2007
Their day in court
Immigrants' rights violated, jury says
Four had tried to expose housing bribery scheme
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A federal court jury has found that a property management company and two people who worked for it in 2000 violated the civil rights of four Russian immigrants who say they were attempting to expose a bribery scheme that preyed on people in need of affordable housing.
Kevin Graman
Staff writer
April 1, 2007
Gender/Familial Status:
COMMUNITY HOUSE, INC.; MARLENE K. SMITH; GREG A. LUTHER; JAY D. BANTA, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v. CITY OF BOISE, IDAHO; DAVID H. BIETER, Mayor; BOISE CITY, (9th Cir.) No. 05-36195.
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The City of Boise owned a homeless shelter, Community House, which was managed by CHI and provided housing to men, women, and families. In 2004, the City assumed management of Community House and then leased it to the Boise Rescue Mission Ministries (“BRM”), a Christian non-profit organization. The women and families were removed from Community House, and the BRM now provides shelter there only to homeless men. The BRM also includes a religious component in the services it provides.
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We reverse the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction, both with regard to the men-only policy at Community House and with regard to the religious activities at Community House. Because the men-only policy at Community House is facially discriminatory, the district court erred in applying the McDonnell Douglas test. Under the facial discrimination test of Johnson Controls, the plaintiffs have raised serious questions as to whether the City is discriminating against women and families in violation of the Fair Housing Act. There is no dispute that the balance of hardships tips in favor of the plaintiffs. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s denial of the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that would require the reinstatement of Community House residents excluded by the men-only policy.
The plaintiffs have also raised serious questions as to whether the City’s aid to the BRM by providing it with the Community House building has the “effect” of advancing religion and violates the Establishment Clause. The balance of hardships as to this claim tips in the plaintiffs’ favor. We, therefore, reverse the district court’s denial of the plaintiffs’ request for a broader preliminary injunction prohibiting chapel services and other religious activities at the Community House facility.
Domestic Violence and Fair Housing Act
Legal victory for domestic-violence victims
A woman who was raped in 2003 by an ex had sued her landlord.
By Howard Pankratz
Denver Post Staff Writer
Excerpt:
The suit named Urban Property Management and the owners of the Hilltop Apartments, H.A. Housing LP. It claimed that the denial of Blackwell's transfer request constituted housing discrimination on the basis of sex, with lawyers saying that her request "was denied in part because of her history as a domestic-violence victim."
Now Blackwell has reached what her lawyers say is the first settlement of its type in the nation involving homes subsidized for low-income families under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Section 8" program.
In the settlement, Urban Property Management agreed to move domestic-violence victims who are in danger within five days of receiving the tenant's transfer request. It also agreed to post notices about the policy and train its staff about domestic violence and fair- housing laws. Blackwell will also receive $60,000.
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