Head v. Jellico Housing Authority
| Decision Date | 27 March 1989 |
| Docket Number | 88-5354,Nos. 88-5353,s. 88-5353 |
| Parties | Lucille HEAD (88-5353); Helen Melton (88-5354), Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. JELLICO HOUSING AUTHORITY; Joe Brown; George Deuel; Bessie Dobson; Lawrence Dupee; Clyde Strunk; Wanda Lambdin, Members, Board of Commissioners of Jellico Housing Authority, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Lenny L. Croce (argued), Rural Legal Services of Tennessee, Inc., Oak Ridge, Tenn., for Lucille Head & Helen Melton.
Wanda G. Sobieski (argued), Baker, Worthington, Crossley, Stansberry & Woolf, Knoxville, Tenn., for Jellico Housing Authority.
Before KRUPANSKY and WELLFORD, Circuit Judges; and CONTIE, Senior Circuit Judge.
In case number 88-5353, Lucille Head appeals to this court from the district court's February 17, 1988 order granting defendants' motion for summary judgment and denying plaintiff's motions for partial summary judgment and to amend her complaint. In case number 88-5354, Helen Melton appeals from the district court's order, entered on the same date, denying her motion to intervene. These cases were consolidated for appeal before this court. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court's judgment.
Appellant Lucille Head resided in Campbell County, Tennessee and rented housing from the Jellico Housing Authority (JHA) at all times pertinent to the instant litigation. On October 9, 1979, JHA and Head entered into a dwelling lease, which provided The lease specified that the monthly rental payments would remain constant unless adjusted in accordance with section five of the lease or in accordance with rent schedules, requirements, or regulations established by HUD. Section five of the lease provided in relevant part as follows:
for monthly rental payments of sixty-nine dollars. Presumably, these rental payments were calculated in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437a, which authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to set rental payments not to exceed a percentage of family income as defined by the Secretary.
Once each year as requested by Management, Tenant agrees to furnish to Management a signed statement and certification containing accurate information as to family income, employment, and composition, for use by Management in determining whether the rental should be changed....
....
If at the time of admission, any annual reexamination, or interim redetermination, Management is unable to arrive at a reasonable estimate of Tenants income [sic] for the following twelve months (after the Tenant has furnished the required statements and certification), a special reexamination shall be scheduled for a later date, and the Tenant will be placed upon a Temporary Rent based upon the best available data. Retroactive charges or credits shall be made if found to be necessary at the time of the scheduled Special Reexamination.
A. During the period between admission and Annual Reexamination, Tenant will be on a FULL INTERIM REPORTING BASIS, this means that Tenant is REQUIRED to report ANY and ALL changes in total family income and family composition to the Project Office within ten (10) days after they occur.
B. Interim Changes in Rent/or Family Composition
(1) Increase in Rent--Increases in Rent are to be made effective the first of the month following that in which the change occurred.
....
D. If it is found that Tenant has misrepresented and/or failed to report facts upon which his/her rent is based, so that the rent he/she is paying is less than he/she should have been charged, then the increase in rent shall be made retroactive to the date that the increase would have taken effect.
E. In the event of any rent adjustment pursuant to the above, Management will mail or deliver a 'Notice of Rent Adjustment' to Tenant which shall accept [sic] as an amendment to this lease.
On February 23, 1984, Head applied for Social Security disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The Secretary of Health and Human Services denied both applications throughout the administrative process. On August 23, 1985, Head filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, requesting review of the Secretary's final decision pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(g). The district court reversed the Secretary's final decision in an order dated January 28, 1986.
In addition to prospective benefits, on May 8, 1986, Head received a check in the amount of $2605.64, representing supplemental security income due from February 13, 1984 through May of 1986. On May 12, 1986, Head received a check in the amount of $5676.00, representing disability insurance benefits due from November of 1983 through February of 1986.
Head informed JHA of this income as her lease required. On May 14, 1986, JHA issued Head a notice of rent adjustment, which advised her that her lease was being amended to charge retroactive rent in the amount of $913.02 for "back rent off SSI." Head paid this amount without protest on May 15, 1986. On June 10, 1986, JHA issued a second notice of rent adjustment. This notice advised her that her lease was being amended to charge additional retroactive rent in the amount of $1607.27, "for back rent on SS." This notice also advised Head that her new rent, effective July 1, 1986, would be $108.00 (compared to her current rent at that time of ninety-seven dollars). Head did not pay the $1607.27 requested. In a letter dated June 18, 1986, Head, through her counsel, protested the retroactive rent charges, requested a refund of the $913.02 already paid, and filed a grievance pursuant to section fourteen of the lease. 1
On May 11, 1987, Head filed a complaint against JHA, its executive director Joe Brown, and its board of commissioners in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The original complaint alleges denial of procedural due process, deprivation of property without due process, violations of federal regulations, and breach of contract. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment concerning JHA's practice of assessing and collecting retroactive rent on the basis of a lump-sum Social Security payment, seeks to enjoin JHA's practice of assessing and collecting retroactive rent, and seeks a refund of retroactive rent paid and actual and punitive damages.
On October 27, 1987, appellees filed a motion for summary judgment.
On November 2, 1987, Helen Melton sought to intervene by filing a motion to intervene pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24 and to proceed in forma pauperis.
Also on November 2, 1987, Head filed a motion to amend her complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15, and her proposed amended complaint. The proposed amended complaint contains an allegation of the denial of equal protection in addition to the allegations contained in the original complaint.
Head filed a motion for partial summary judgment and a declaration in support of her motion on November 16, 1987.
On February 19, 1988, the district court entered a memorandum opinion, denying Head's motion for partial summary judgment, granting appellees' motion for summary judgment, refusing to allow Head to amend her complaint, and refusing to allow Melton to intervene.
Both Head and Melton filed notices of appeal, and their appeals were consolidated for disposition by this court. Appellees filed a motion to dismiss Melton's appeal for lack of jurisdiction, but Judge Keith denied that motion in a marginal order dated November 11, 1988. We begin by deciding whether the district court erroneously granted summary judgment to appellees.
The general standard an appellate court applies in reviewing a grant of summary judgment is the same as the district court employs initially under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c). Gutierrez v. Lynch, 826 F.2d 1534, 1536 (6th Cir.1987); 10 C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 2716 (1983). "[T]he burden on the moving party may be discharged by 'showing'--that is, pointing out to the District Court--that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "Where the moving party has carried its burden of showing that the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions and affidavits in the record, construed favorably to the nonmoving party, do not raise a genuine issue of material fact for trial, entry of summary judgment is appropriate." Gutierrez, 826 F.2d at 1536.
Appellant Head's primary argument is that pursuant to federal regulations JHA cannot charge retroactive rent on the basis of Social Security benefits paid as the result of a federal court reversing a final administrative decision. Specifically, she argues that the federal regulations allow JHA to count only "anticipated income" for purposes of charging rent. She contends that the lump-sum payments at issue in the instant case were not anticipated. She argues that these payments are instead either lump-sum additions to family assets or temporary, nonrecurring or sporadic income. We reject this argument.
As we mentioned above, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437a authorizes the Secretary of HUD to set rental payments not to exceed a percentage of family income as defined by the Secretary. 24 C.F.R. Part 913 "establishes definitions, policies and procedures related to income limits and the determination of eligibility, income and rent for applicants and tenants in Public Housing." 24 C.F.R. Sec. 913.101. 24 C.F.R. Sec. 913.106 provides in relevant part as follows:
(a) Annual income is the anticipated total income from all sources received by the Family head and spouse (even if...
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