LOUISIANA LEGAL SERVICES AND PRO BONO DESK MANUAL 2013

FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED HOUSING
income housing, and fair housing challenges. For more information on the crisis,
consult the National Housing Law Project Green Book, HUD Housing Programs:
Tenants’ Rights (4th Ed. 2012) and/or the following:
• Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordiability Act of 1997, Pub. L.
105-65, Title V, 111 Stat. 1343 (Oct. 27 1998), Amended Pub. L. 106-74 §
531 (Oct. 20, 1999);
• 42 U.S.C. § 1437f;
• 24 C.F.R. Part 40;
• HUD PIH NOTICE 98-34;
• HUD PIH NOTICE 98-19;
• HUD PIH NOTICE 99-16.
4.5 STATE PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES LAW
In Act 1188 of 1997, the Louisiana legislature adopted a comprehensive revision
of La. R.S. 40:381 et seq. which purports to regulate federally funded housing
programs. The law, which is extraordinarily one-sided, tries to vest broad powers
and maximum discretion with public housing authorities. Many of Act 1188’s provisions
appear to be unlawful because they conflict with federal housing law or
the Fair Housing Act. See Thorpe v. Housing Authority of City of Durham, 393 U.S.
268 (1969) (federal law binding on housing authorities and state courts). Since
federal law is supreme, contrary state laws cannot authorize a housing authority
to violate federal law.
Housing authority actions based on R.S. 40:381 et seq. may require new
advocacy strategies. A housing authority must follow its own rules even when it
has discretion. Government of Virgin Islands v. Brown, 571 F.2d 767, 772 ( 3d Cir.
1978); Simmons v. Block, 782 F.2d 1545 (11th Cir. 1986). Actions that are “arbitrary”
are still unlawful under R.S. 40:486. Arbitrary actions should be reviewable
under the state constitutional right to judicial review.
There are a few provisions in R.S. 40:381 et seq. that protect tenants. For
example, R.S. 40: 456, 508-10, protect domestic violence victims from the consequences
of such abuse, and tenants in general from criminals who frequent nearby
apartments or the project. The best protection is found at La. R.S. 40:506(D)
which prohibits housing authorities from ending assistance to tenants for lease
violations based upon criminal activity when the tenant or the tenant’s family
member is a victim of domestic violence.
4.6 UNIFORM RELOCATION ACT ASSISTANCE FOR DISPLACED
FAMILIES
Demolition and large-scale “modernization” of public housing projects have
resulted in the displacement and relocation of thousands of public housing residents.
All too frequently, PHAs fail to notify residents of their rights under a federal
law called the Uniform Relocation Act. Worse still, many PHA’s do not pay
adequate relocation benefits to eligible families. To help PHAs comply with the
law, they can refer to the HUD Handbook 1378 and 49 C.F.R. 24.203. Some of the
benefits to which residents are entitled include:
• active participation of residents in the revitalization effort;
• notices clarifying a resident’s right to return;
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