Cope v. Bethlehem Housing Authority
| Decision Date | 28 August 1986 |
| Parties | Dennis COPE and Kandi Cope, Appellants, v. BETHLEHEM HOUSING AUTHORITY, Appellee. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court |
Bruce F. Briody, Bethlehem, for appellee.
Before CRAIG and MacPHAIL, JJ., and BLATT, Senior Judge.
Dennis and Kandi Cope (appellants) appeal an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County which affirmed a decision by the Bethlehem Housing Authority (Authority) to deny their application for admission into the Authority's housing.
The appellants had previously been Authority tenants, and, after renting private housing for several years, they again applied for admission into the Authority's housing. In considering the appellants' application, the Authority reviewed the record concerning their previous Authority tenancy and consulted a number of the appellants' landlords concerning their intervening tenancies. The appellants' application was thereafter rejected on the basis that they were not considered desirable applicants. 1 After the Authority denied their appeal from this determination, the appellants filed an equity action in the common pleas court, alleging that the Authority's determination was subject to the provisions of the Local Agency Law 2 and seeking a de novo hearing before the common pleas court under that statute. Treating the action as one at law, 3 the trial court remanded the matter to the Authority so that a hearing could be held and a record made. Following such proceedings, the Authority again denied the appellants' application, citing their poor tenant record, and this decision was upheld by the trial court.
It appears that the parties, as well as the trial court, have treated this matter as though it concerned an adjudication under the Local Agency Law. This statute requires, of course, that a hearing be held as to any agency adjudication, which is defined as a final order "by an agency affecting personal or property rights ... of any or all parties to the proceeding in which the adjudication is made." 2 Pa. C.S. § 101. We preliminarily observe, however, that to be entitled to the benefits and procedural protections of the Local Agency Law, an individual must have had a personal or property right in the matter which is the subject of the adjudication. 4 Ditzler Appeal, 63 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 233, 437 A.2d 1071 (1981). The appellants assert here that they possess the requisite property or personal interest based upon their entitlement to have their application considered in accordance, inter alia, with federal regulations. 5
The pertinent regulations, however, provide that an applicant's past conduct may be considered, and provide that information relied upon in making a decision may include reports of interviews and telephone conversations with reliable sources, listing landlords, court records and family social workers in the list of suggested sources of information. 24 C.F.R. § 960.206. The regulation concerning appeals from adverse decisions on tenant applications provides only that an applicant should be given "an informal hearing on such determination." 24 C.F.R. § 960.207. In Singleton v. Drew, 485 F.Supp. 1020 (E.D.Wis.1980), relied upon by the petitioners, the court specifically noted that such an informal hearing does not require an authority to "call" witnesses, and that it does not require a complete record, sworn testimony, or a formal decision with findings of fact and legal conclusions. The Singleton court noted that, by contrast, those who already are public housing tenants undoubtedly possess a property interest entitling them to a full panoply of due process protection, including the use of a hearing examiner to receive and consider evidence, and subsequent judicial review. See 24 C.F.R. §§ 966.4, 966.50-955.57 and Caulder v. Durham Housing Authority, 433 F.2d 998 (4th Cir.1970).
Throughout these proceedings, the appellants have sought to equate their limited due process rights to be properly considered for public housing with the requisite personal or property right to have public housing which we believe is necessary to invoke the provisions of the Local Agency Law. We disagree, therefore, that the interest of the petitioners in having their application considered by the Authority and in the limited available administrative appeal therefrom, rises to the level of establishing a cognizable property...
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...housing (Authority Decision). The trial court dismissed the appeal pursuant to this Court's holdings in Cope v. Bethlehem Housing Authority, 95 Pa.Cmwlth. 99, 514 A.2d 295, 297 (1986), and McKinley v. Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh, 58 A.3d 142, 144–45 (Pa.Cmwlth.2012), which......
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...where the jurisdiction of an agency is challenged, Cope v. Bethlehem Housing Authority, 501 A.2d 1178, reconsidered, 95 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 99, 514 A.2d 295 (1985), or where a statutory scheme's constitutionality or validity is being challenged. Barr v. State Real Estate Commission, 110 Pa.......
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...must have had a personal or property right in the matter which is the subject of the adjudication.” Cope v. Bethlehem Housing Authority, 95 Pa.Cmwlth. 99, 514 A.2d 295, 296 (1986). “A personal right ... which will constitute an adjudication pursuant to Section 101 of the Administrative Law ......
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Tyrone Fire Patrol Co. v. Tyrone Borough
...an individual must have had a personal or property right in the matter which is the subject of the adjudication." Cope v. Bethlehem HousingAuthority, 514 A.2d 295, 296 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986). "A personal right . . . which will constitute an adjudication pursuant to Section 101 of the Administra......