Haywood v. Chicago Housing Authority

212 F. Supp. 3d 735, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133718, 2016 WL 5405052
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 28, 2016
Docket15 C 8317
StatusPublished

This text of 212 F. Supp. 3d 735 (Haywood v. Chicago Housing Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haywood v. Chicago Housing Authority, 212 F. Supp. 3d 735, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133718, 2016 WL 5405052 (N.D. Ill. 2016).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order

Gary Scott Feinerman, United States District Judge

Mary Haywood, Martha Lewis, Annie Stubenfíeld, A.D. Lindsey, Essie McAllis-ter, and Sandra Walton brought this putative class action against the Chicago Housing Authority (“CHA”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Illinois law. The operative complaint alleges that CHA violated the Brooke Amendment to the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq., its implementing regulations, and lili-[739]*739nois contract law by charging Plaintiffs monthly rent above the lawful ceiling and by failing to conduct annual reviews and interim adjustments of residents’ utility allowances. Doc. 18. CHA has moved to dismiss the suit pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Doc. 27. The motion is: (1) granted as to all claims alleging violations of the regulations; (2) granted as to McAllister’s and Walton’s Brooke Amendment claims; and (3) denied as to the other four plaintiffs’ Brooke Amendment claims and all six plaintiffs’ state law contract claims.

Background

In resolving a Rule 12(b)(6) motion or a Rule 12(b)(1) motion asserting a facial challenge to subject matter jurisdiction, the court assumes the truth of the operative complaint’s well-pleaded factual allegations, though not its legal conclusions. See Zahn v. N. Am. Power & Gas, LLC, 815 F.3d 1082, 1087 (7th Cir. 2016). The court must also consider “documents attached to the complaint, documents that are critical to the complaint and referred to in it, and information that is subject to proper judicial notice,” along with additional facts set forth in Plaintiffs’ brief opposing dismissal, so long as those additional facts “are consistent with the pleadings.” Phillips v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 714 F.3d 1017, 1020 (7th Cir. 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Geinosky v. City of Chicago, 675 F.3d 743, 745 n.` (7th Cir. 2012). The facts are set forth as favorably to Plaintiffs as those materials allow. See Pierce v. Zoetis, 818 F.3d 274, 277 (7th Cir. 2016). In setting forth those facts on a motion to dismiss, the court does not vouch for their accuracy. See Jay E. Hayden Found. v. First Neighbor Bank, N.A., 610 F.3d 382, 384 (7th Cir. 2010).

CHA is an Illinois municipal corporation and public housing authority (“PHA”) created and existing under the Illinois Housing Authorities Act, 310 ILCS 10/1 et seq. Doc. 18 at ¶ 14. CHA operates more than 21,000 public housing units in Chicago that are subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). Id. at ¶ 47. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1437c, a PHA may enter into an annual contributions contract (“ACC”) with HUD. CHA’s ACC entitles it to annual contributions from HUD; in return, CHA and its contractors must comply with all applicable statutes and HUD regulations. Doc. 18 at ¶¶ 66-67. Four plaintiffs— Haywood, Lewis, Stubenfíeld, and Lindsey—are CHA residents. Id. at ¶¶ 8-11. The two other plaintiffs—McAllister and Walton—are former CHA residents. Id. at ¶¶ 12-13.

Haywood has been a CHA resident for sixteen years. Id. at ¶ 15. Since 1999, CHA has calculated her monthly rent according to this formula:

Rent = (adjusted monthly household income * 0.3)—utility allowance—tenant patrol stipend

Id. at ¶ 16. At the time of Haywood’s most recent rent determination, her household’s adjusted monthly income was $1,160, her utility allowance was (and since 2007 has been) $24, and her “tenant patrol” stipend, for a service she provides to her building, was $100. Id. at ¶¶ 17-18. Accordingly, her monthly rent is $224. Id. at ¶ 18. Since 1999, in addition to paying monthly rent to CHA, Haywood has been required to pay a third-party utility provider for her electricity. Id. at ¶ 17; Doc. 18-2 at 5.

Lewis has been a CHA resident for decades. Doc. 18 at ¶¶ 9, 21. Since 2008, CHA has calculated her monthly rent according to this formula, which will be called the “Rent Formula”:

Rent = (adjusted monthly household income * 0.3)—utility allowance

Id. at ¶ 23 . As Lewis’s adjusted monthly household income was $660 at the time of her most recent rent determination, and [740]*740her utility allowance was (and since 2008 has been) $51, her monthly rent is $147. Id. at ¶¶ 21-22, 24. Since 2008, in addition to paying monthly rent to CHA, Lewis has been required to pay a third-party utility provider for her electricity and cooking gas expenses. Id. at ¶ 22.

Stubenfield has lived in CHA public housing for decades. Id. at ¶ 26. Since 2005, CHA has calculated her monthly rent using the Rent Formula. Id. at ¶ 28. At the time of her most recent rent determination, Stubenfield’s adjusted monthly household income was approximately $847, and her utility allowance was (and since 2005 has been) $168, so her monthly rent is $86. Id. at ¶¶ 26-27, 29. Since 2005, in addition to paying rent to CHA, Stuben-field has been required to pay a third-party utility provider for her electricity. Id. at ¶ 27.

Lindsey has lived in CHA public housing since 2010, during which time he has been required to pay a third-party utility provider for electricity in addition to paying monthly rent to CHA. Id. at ¶ 32. Since that date, CHA has calculated his monthly rent using the Rent Formula. Ibid. As Lindsey’s adjusted monthly household income was $1,349 at the time of his most recent rent determination, and his utility allowance was (and since 2010 has been) $24, his monthly rent is $381. Id. at ¶¶ 31-32, 34.

McAllister lived in CHA public housing from, 1973 until September 2008, and Walton did so from 1971 until September 2009. Id. at ¶¶ 36, 41. Both received a utility allowance and were required to pay their electricity and natural gas expenses to a third-party utility provider in addition to paying monthly rent to CHA. Id. at ¶¶ 37, 42. CHA calculated their monthly rent using the Rent Formula. Id. at ¶¶ 38, 43. The complaint does not specify either of their adjusted monthly household incomes or utility allowances, but it does allege that both paid CHA and their utility providers more than 30 percent of their respective households’ adjusted monthly incomes for rent and the reasonable cost of utilities. Id. at ¶¶ 40, 45.

At least biennially, CHA calculates a tenant’s rent using the household’s adjusted income. Id. at ¶ 60. To calculate adjusted household income, CHA obtains the verified annual income of household members and makes deductions pursuant to HUD regulations. Id. at ¶ 61; see 24 C.F.R. §§ 5.609, 5.611, 960.259(c).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
212 F. Supp. 3d 735, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133718, 2016 WL 5405052, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haywood-v-chicago-housing-authority-ilnd-2016.