Hinneberg v. Big Stone County Housing, No. A04-435.

• Decision Date: 23 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. A04-435.
• Citation: 706 N.W.2d 220
• Parties: Beth Ann HINNEBERG, Appellant, v. BIG STONE COUNTY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 220

706 N.W.2d 220

Beth Ann HINNEBERG, Appellant, v. BIG STONE COUNTY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, Respondent.

No. A04-435.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

November 23, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

James A. Lee, Jr., Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, for Appellant.

William J. Watson, Big Stone County Attorney, Ortonville, MN, for Respondent.

Keith S. Moheban, Alison C. Archer, Leonard, Street and Deinard Professional Association, Minneapolis, MN, for Amici National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc., and Home Line.

Lisa Walker Scott, Housing and Development Law Institute, Washington, D.C., for Amici Housing and Development Law Institute.

William F. Maher, Washington, D.C., for Amici National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials; Minnesota Chapter, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials; and North Central Regional Council, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

HANSON, Justice.

Appellant Beth Hinneberg challenges the denial of her request for an accommodation to the residency policy of Respondent Big Stone County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (Big Stone County HRA) to enable Hinneberg to use Big Stone County HRA's Section 8 housing voucher outside of its housing jurisdiction. Hinneberg claims that her medical conditions require this accommodation and argues that the denial amounts to disability discrimination in violation of the reasonable accommodations provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12132 (2000), the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHAA), 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1), (3) (2000), and the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA), Minn.Stat. § 363A.10 (2004). The court of appeals held that FHAA does not apply to public housing authorities and that, in any event, reasonable accommodation does not require Big Stone County HRA to make an exception to its residency policy for Hinneberg because the residency policy applies equally to disabled and nondisabled applicants and thus it does not deny equal opportunity to Hinneberg. Hinneberg v. Big Stone County Hous. and Redevelopment Auth., No. A04-435, 2004 WL 2986536, at *3 (Minn.App. Dec. 28, 2004). We affirm, though on different grounds.

Big Stone County HRA operates a Section 8 housing program funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Section 8 program offers housing vouchers to qualified applicants to offset monthly rental payments. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f (o) (2000). The goal of the program is to promote economically mixed housing and make affordable housing available to low-income households. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a) (2000).

Appellant Beth Hinneberg lived in Hopkins, Minnesota, but planned on moving to Big Stone County, where she grew up and has family. She applied for and received a voucher for Section 8 housing from Big Stone County HRA. Hinneberg looked for housing in Big Stone County for a short period of time, but then reconsidered because of the close proximity she had in Hopkins to an established network of health care providers that treated her disabilities.

A general feature of Section 8 vouchers is that they can be transferred, or "ported," anywhere within the United States so long as the area has a Section 8 program. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(r)(1)(A) (2000); 24 C.F.R. § 982.353(b) (2005). But both the federal act creating the program and the regulations adopted by HUD to implement the act authorize individual public housing authorities to restrict portability for a person who, like Hinneberg, was not residing in its jurisdiction at the time the applicant first applied for assistance. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(r)(1)(B)(i); 24 C.F.R. § 982.353(c)(2)(ii). A public housing authority can require the person to first live within its jurisdiction for 12 months before porting its voucher. Id. Consistent with this authorization, Big Stone County HRA adopted the following residency policy regarding portability:

If the head or spouse of the assisted family does not have a legal residence or work in the jurisdiction of the Big Stone County Housing Authority at the time of its application, the family will not have any right to lease a unit outside of the Big Stone County Housing Authority jurisdiction for a 12 month period beginning when the family is first admitted to the program. During this period, the family may only lease a unit located in the jurisdiction of the Big Stone County Authority.

Because Hinneberg lived outside of Big Stone County when she applied for the program, this policy disqualified her from porting her voucher unless she first leased a unit in Big Stone County for 12 months. Hinneberg requested an exception to Big Stone County HRA's residency policy as a "reasonable accommodation" of her disabilities. Specifically, she argued that "the housing available in the Big Stone County area presents challenges related to accessibility and livability related to [her] health issues and symptoms." Hinneberg supplied letters from her doctors that documented her disabilities and gave opinions that it was medically necessary for Hinneberg to continue to live in Hopkins.

Big Stone County HRA denied her request. Hinneberg requested an informal hearing on the matter and, pursuant to HUD regulations, Big Stone County HRA designated a hearing officer from a neighboring county's HRA to preside. See 24 CFR § 982.555(e)(4)(i) (2005). The hearing officer's decision noted the above undisputed facts and concluded that the Big Stone County HRA "acted responsibly and in accordance with the administrative policy of the Big Stone County HRA, as well as the regulations governing the federally funded Housing Choice Voucher program."

Hinneberg petitioned for a writ of certiorari to the court of appeals, challenging Big Stone County HRA's decision under the ADA, the FHAA, and the MHRA.¹ Hinneberg, 2004 WL 2986536, at *2. In an unpublished opinion, the court of appeals held (1) that the FHAA does not apply to public housing authorities administering Section 8 housing programs, and (2) even if it did, Big Stone County HRA did not discriminate within the meaning of the ADA, FHAA, or MHRA. Id. at *3, *4-5. We granted Hinneberg's petition for further review.

Hinneberg also moves to strike portions of the appellate briefs of Big Stone County HRA and amici curiae the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, et al. ("NAHRO"). Hinneberg essentially objects to statistical information specific to Big Stone County and Hennepin County as being in the nature of evidentiary facts that are not in the administrative record and are not so public as to be facts that the court could judicially notice.² We grant the motion to strike because the information is evidentiary in nature and was not presented to the hearing officer or made a part of the administrative record. Accordingly, we have not considered the stricken information in reviewing this case.

I.

The first question is whether the FHAA applies to public housing authorities, such as Big Stone County HRA, administering Section 8 housing programs. The FHAA makes it illegal "[t]o discriminate in the sale or rental, or to otherwise make unavailable or deny, a dwelling to any buyer or renter because of [that buyer or renter's] handicap." 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1). The court of appeals interpreted this language to only apply to entities that sell or rent houses, directly provide housing, or "affect the availability of housing generally." Hinneberg, 2004 WL 2986536, at *5. The court concluded that "an entity administering rental subsidy vouchers" does not fall under any of these categories and is therefore outside the scope of the FHAA. Id.

But federal rules regulating the administration of Section 8 programs provide to the contrary, stating: "The tenant-based program requires compliance with all equal opportunity requirements imposed by contract or federal law, including the authorities cited at 24 C.F.R. § 5.105(a)." 24 C.F.R. § 982.53(a) (2005). One of the authorities listed is "The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-19) and implementing regulations at 24 C.F.R. part 100 et seq." 24 C.F.R. § 5.105(a) (2005); see also 24 C.F.R. § 8.4(a) (2005) (prohibiting disability discrimination in "any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance from" HUD); 24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a) (2005) (same, but specific to public housing authorities administering Section 8 housing voucher programs); 24 C.F.R. § 982.53(b)(1) (requiring that public housing authorities certify to HUD that they will "administer the [Section 8] program in conformity with the Fair Housing Act"). In light of these requirements, we conclude that the broad phrase in the FHAA — "to otherwise make unavailable or deny" a dwelling — makes the FHAA applicable to public housing authorities administering Section 8 housing voucher programs.

II.

The next question is whether Big Stone County HRA violated the ADA and FHAA by refusing to make an exception to its residency policy. A quasi-judicial decision not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act is reviewed on writ of certiorari by reviewing the record to determine "whether the order or determination in a particular case was arbitrary, oppressive, unreasonable, fraudulent, under an erroneous theory of law, or without any evidence to support it." Dietz v. Dodge County, 487 N.W.2d 237, 239 (Minn.1992). We review an administrative agency's interpretation of federal statutes, such as the ADA and FHAA, de novo, as questions of law. St. Otto's Home v. Minn. Dep't of Human Servs., 437 N.W.2d 35, 39-40 (Minn.1989).

A. Statutory framework

There are three ways to prove discrimination under the ADA and FHAA: disparate treatment, disparate impact, and refusal to reasonably accommodate. Lapid-Laurel, L.L.C. v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of the Twp. of Scotch Plains, 284 F.3d 442, 448 n. 3 (...