Ocean View Towers Associates, Ltd. Partnership v. United States

88 Fed. Cl. 169, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 248, 2009 WL 2137005
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided July 15, 2009·No. No. 09-48C·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

This breach of contract case arises from a Housing Assistance Payment Contract (“HAP Contract”) entered between Ocean View Towers Associates, Limited Partnership (“Ocean View”) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), pursuant to the “Section 8” Housing Program. Compl. ¶ 5. Ocean View filed a complaint on January 23, 2009 seeking damages from and against the United States for an alleged breach of this HAP Contract. Compl. ¶ 1. The HAP Contract provides for owners of the Ocean Pointe Towers Apartments to receive periodic increases to the contract rents of the pertinent apartment units. Compl., Ex. A (Ocean View HAP Contract) (“HAP Contract”) § 1.8(b). Ocean View bases its claims on HUD’s alleged failure to provide “automatic annual rent increases or appropriate such increases” as specified in the HAP Contract beginning in the contract anniversary year of 2002 and continuing through the date its complaint was filed. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 19.1 The claims in this action relate to the anniversary year of 2002 and the succeeding years for the Ocean Pointe project. Compl. ¶ 1.

Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims, the government has moved to dismiss a portion of Ocean View’s claims arising in 2003 based upon the six-year statute of limitations applicable to claims brought under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a). Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss, in Part (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 1 (citing the statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501). The complaint was filed on January 23, 2009, and the government contends that Ocean View’s claims from January 23, 2003 through September 2, 2003 are barred, asserting that those claims accrued on the anniversary date of the 2002 contract year, September 3, 2002, which is more than six years from the date [171] the complaint was filed. Def.’s Mot. at 1. Conversely, Ocean View avers that its claims for payments from January 23, 2003 to September 2, 2003 fall within the statute of limitations because HUD was permitted to adjust the contract rents at any time during the anniversary year, not solely on the anniversary date. Pl.’s Resp. to Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Resp.”) at 1-2. The government’s motion has been fully briefed and is ready for disposition.

BACKGROUND2

A The Section 8 Housing Program

Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. § 1437f, establishes a housing assistance program through which HUD is authorized to subsidize rent payments “[f|or the purpose of aiding low-income families in obtaining a decent place to live.” 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a); see Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Pub.L. No. 93-383, 88 Stat. 633, 662-66 (1974) (adding Section 8 to the Housing Act). The statutory program permits HUD to enter into HAP Contracts with private building owners in which HUD agrees to pay rent subsidies on behalf of the low-income families living in the buildings’ apartment units. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(b); see also Brown Park Estates-Fairfield Dev. Co. v. United States, 127 F.3d 1449, 1450-51 (Fed.Cir.1997) (explaining the statutory and regulatory scheme of the housing program), Pennsauken Senior Towers Urban Renewal Assocs., LLC. v. United States, 83 Fed.Cl. 623, 624 (2008) (reciting the background of the Section 8 program). HAP Contracts specify the maximum monthly rent (“contract rent”) an owner may charge in leasing each unit, of which the tenant pays a particular amount based on his income and HUD pays the difference between the tenant payment and the contract rent. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437f(e)(l), 1437f(e)(3) (stating that HUD decides the portion of rent payable by the family pursuant to Section 1437a(a)); see also Brown Park, 127 F.3d at 1451 (describing the allocation of rental payments). The initial contract rent is determined by HUD, taking into consideration the fair market value of the rental property and the additional costs attendant to implementing the requirements of Section 8. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(c)(l); see also Brown Park, 127 F.3d at 1451. The regulations permit the initial contract rent to be slightly above that charged by comparable unassisted units, but this “initial difference” must fall within a range of zero to twenty percent for HAP Contracts. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(c)(l).

“As originally enacted in 1974, the statute required HUD to adjust the maximum monthly rents on at least an annual basis.” Statesman II Apts., Inc. v. United States, 66 Fed.Cl. 608, 610 (2005); see Brown Park, 127 F.3d at 1451 (“In addition to setting initial contract rents, HUD is responsible for adjusting the contract rents on at least an annual basis.”). Accordingly, the HAP Contract was to

provide for adjustment annually or more frequently in the maximum monthly rents for units covered by the contract to reflect changes in the fair market rentals established in the housing area for similar types and sizes of dwelling units or, if the Secretary determines, on the basis of a reasonable formula.

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Ocean View Towers Associates, Ltd. Partnership v. United States, 88 Fed. Cl. 169, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 248, 2009 WL 2137005 (uscfc 2009).

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