Gallman v. Pierce

• Decision Date: 18 July 1986
• Docket Number: No. C-84-0006-CAL.,C-84-0006-CAL.
• Citation: 639 F. Supp. 472
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: Patricia GALLMAN; Glenda Deloney; Willie Jean Sharkey; and Beulah Czirkelbach, Plaintiffs, v. Samuel R. PIERCE, Jr., in his official capacity as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Leon Hunter, in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Richmond Housing Authority; and the Richmond Housing Authority, Defendants.

639 F. Supp. 472

Patricia GALLMAN; Glenda Deloney; Willie Jean Sharkey; and Beulah Czirkelbach, Plaintiffs, v. Samuel R. PIERCE, Jr., in his official capacity as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Leon Hunter, in his official capacity as Executive Director of the Richmond Housing Authority; and the Richmond Housing Authority, Defendants.

No. C-84-0006-CAL.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

June 26, 1986.

As Amended July 18, 1986.

Miye A. Goishi, Patricia A. Higa, Philip J. Bertenthal, Contra Costa Legal Services Foundation, Richmond, Cal., for plaintiffs.

Malcolm Hunter, City Atty., Wayne S. Nishioka, Asst. City Atty., Richmond, Cal., Lynn K. Richardson, Asst. U.S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for Hunter & Richmond Housing Authority.

AMENDED OPINION AND ORDER FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

LEGGE, District Judge.

This case is presently before the court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The issue is whether tenants participating in a subsidized housing program are entitled to a notice of good cause at least thirty days prior to a proposed eviction. For the reasons discussed below, the court concludes that California law requires that landlords who participate in so-called Section 8 existing housing programs must serve their tenants with notices setting forth the grounds for eviction at least thirty days prior to any court proceedings. Summary judgment will be entered for plaintiffs and against defendants.

I.

Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 1437f (1982 & Supp. II 1984)) is designed to provide safe and sanitary low-income housing to qualified recipients. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437 (1982) (Declaration of Policy). The general philosophy of Section 8 is that appropriate housing can best be supplied through a combination of federal, local, and private efforts. H.R.Rep. No. 1114, 93rd Cong., 2d Sess. 18 (1973). The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") is the federal officer primarily responsible for implementing Section 8. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(b) (1982).

Section 8 operates in part through the existing housing assistance payments ("HAP") program. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a). The HAP program is a rent subsidy program. It employs a system of contracts involving HUD, local public housing authorities ("PHA's"), private landlords and qualified tenants. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f.

HUD initiates the distribution of federal housing assistance by entering into an annual contributions contract ("ACC") with a local PHA. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(b)(1). The ACC, inter alia sets the maximum monthly rent to be paid to apartment owners, requires the PHA to achieve a certain economic mix of recipients, and mandates that the PHA incorporate certain contractual provisions in all agreements with a private landlord participating in the Section 8 HAP program. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(c), (d).

HUD makes payments to the PHA¹ pursuant to the ACC, both for use as rent subsidies and to compensate the PHA for its management expenses. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(b), (c); 24 C.F.R. § 882.104(a) (1985). The PHA in turn distributes the funds, implements the relevant legal mandates, and oversees both the landlords and tenants. 24 C.F.R. § 882.116(c), (d), 882.209(a), (b) (1985). It is also responsible for the selection of eligible units, owners, and tenants. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(c), (d).

The PHA distributes the HUD rent subsidies through a second series of contracts. It first advertises the availability of housing assistance payments and invites eligible families to submit applications. 24 C.F.R. § 882.207. It then selects participating families in accordance with HUD-established criteria. Id. § 882.209. The PHA issues a certificate of participation to the families selected. The certificate describes the terms and conditions of the family's participation in the Section 8 HAP program. Id. §§ 882.102, 882.209(b)(2).

The certificate holder, i.e., the prospective tenant, is responsible for locating qualifying privately owned housing. Id. § 882.103. If the owner of the housing consents to participate in the Section 8 HAP program, the tenant and the owner submit the proposed lease to the PHA. Id. § 882.210. The PHA reviews the lease, and if it meets with PHA and HUD requirements, the PHA issues a notice of approval. Id. § 882.210(k).

The PHA and the owner then enter into a HAP contract. This contract, inter alia, specifies the amount of rent for the unit, the sum that the PHA will pay directly to the landlord, the amount of rent that the tenant must pay, and provisions governing maintenance and inspection. The HAP contract additionally specifies the grounds for termination of a lease. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(d). It incorporates HUD's regulations, which provide that the landlord may terminate the lease for "serious or repeated violation" of the lease, violations of law, or "other good cause." Id. § 1437f(d)(1)(B)(ii); 24 C.F.R. § 882.215(c)(1) (1985).

The tenant and the owner then execute the lease. The lease must contain certain provisions set out in the HUD regulations. See 24 C.F.R. § 882.209(j) (1985). The regulations also prohibit certain provisions. See Appendix I to 24 C.F.R. § 882 (1985). Upon the issuance of the certificate of participation, the execution of the lease, and the HAP contract, the Section 8 HAP program is in effect as to that housing unit.

II.

Plaintiffs challenge Section 8's existing housing program procedures for the termination and eviction of tenants.

Plaintiffs are four Contra Costa county residents who are participants in the Section 8 HAP program. Plaintiffs received, in accordance with California landlord-tenant procedures, three-day and/or thirty-day notices of termination of their Section 8 assisted leases. Plaintiffs Gallman and Sharkey were later served with summons and complaints in unlawful detainer actions to vacate their apartments.

Plaintiffs claim that the notices of termination are constitutionally infirm and violate Section 8's good cause requirements. They allege that the notices failed to inform them of the reasons for termination of their leases. Plaintiffs assert that the lack of reasons engendered uncertainty, which caused them to at least consider relinquishing their assisted apartments. Plaintiff Gallman also claims that she moved to a less desirable neighborhood rather than confront the pressure of the uncertainty over her lease. Plaintiff Sharkey also decided to move rather than contest the termination notice. She argues that without written notice of the reasons for termination she was unable to contest the eviction. Plaintiffs Czirkelback and Deloney were able to persuade their landlords to retract their thirty day notices. They assert, however, that the landlords' failure to state reasons for the terminations effectively disabled them from challenging the evictions. Plaintiffs further allege that they fear future similar occurrences.

Plaintiffs claim a constitutionally protected property interest in their Section 8 leases. They contend that the statutory requirement of good cause for termination of Section 8 leases creates a procedural requirement that landlords must (1) state the reasons for proposed evictions (2) at least thirty days prior to actions to terminate the leases. They claim that they are not now receiving such notices under the existing procedures. Plaintiffs contend that they are thereby aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. § 702. They seek a declaration that the absence of such notice deprives them of due process in contravention of the fifth and fourteenth amendments and violates implicit requirements of Section 8. Plaintiffs additionally ask this court to enjoin future notices of termination that do not have good cause notices. They also seek a declaration that 24 C.F.R. § 882.215(c) (1985), which now governs termination procedures, is void because of the lack of a good cause notice requirement; they therefore ask for a judgment requiring HUD to rescind that regulation and replace it with one requiring a thirty-day good cause notice.

Because this court determines that plaintiffs' requested relief is available under state law, the court will discuss only certain of the relief requested by plaintiffs.

III.

The issues of the type of the notice required to terminate a Section 8 HAP lease and the validity of 24 C.F.R. section 882.215 are properly before this court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The parties and the court concur that no material issues of fact remain, and that the pending issues are solely ones of law.

IV.

The controversy over the notice and termination provisions governing Section 8 HAP leases arose out of the 1981 congressional amendments to Section 8. Prior to 1981, eviction of a Section 8 HAP lease required PHA approval. Amendment of Regulations to Section 8, 49 Fed.Reg. 12,234 (1984). Paragraph 8(d)(1)(B) mandated that all contracts between owners and PHA's include a provision reserving to that agency the sole right to issue a notice to vacate. The landlord was permitted only to petition the PHA to terminate a particular tenancy. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(d)(1)(B).

The regulations in effect prior to 1981 governing termination procedure required the owner to comply with both the dictates of local law and the relevant HUD regulations. 24 C.F.R. § 882.215 (1981). The pre-amendment section 882.215 mandated that the owner provide a written notice of the proposed eviction, allowing the tenant at least ten days to respond. The notice was required to include a statement of grounds for termination. A copy of the notice was to be sent to the PHA. The owner had no actual authority to evict a tenant; rather, the PHA would review the stated reasons for termination and the tenant's written response. The PHA would then determine whether eviction was appropriate. 24 C.F.R. § 882.215 (1981).

Those regulations also limited the grounds for termination. Appendix I to section 882.215 set out required...