SECTION 8 HOUSING

摘要

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided in Mathis v. District of Columbia Housing Authority, 2015 WL 5919963 (D.C. 2015), that a public housing tenant whose Section 8 housing voucher was terminated had the right to review of the housing authority's decision by the Court of Appeals, and was not required by the D.C. Code to file a new action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Stevon Mathis signed a lease in April 2008 for an apartment in D.C owned and operated by the District of Columbia Housing Authority ("DCHA"), using a Section 8 HCVP rental housing voucher in accordance with 42 U.S.C.A. § 1437f (2013). The DCHA is the Public Housing Agency ("PHA") administering the Section 8 program in the District. D.C. Code § 6-202(b) (2012 Repl.). In October 2009, DCHA provided Mathis notice in the form of a postcard that it was terminating his participation in the HCVP, pursuant to various federal regulations. The notice said that Mr. Mathis had "fail[ed] to comply with [his] Family Obligations in the Housing Choice Voucher Program," and specifically that a family member who was not an authorized tenant had been arrested on September 11, 2009, on the premises for drug-related criminal activity. The postcard notice advised Mathis that he had the right to appeal the DCHA's termination decision at an "informal hearing." To do so, he had to sign and date the postcard and return it to the agency "within 30 days of the postmark on this letter."