Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND.

663 F.3d 300, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23885, 2011 WL 6032958
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 1, 2011
Docket10-2724
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 663 F.3d 300 (Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stevens v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF SOUTH BEND, IND., 663 F.3d 300, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23885, 2011 WL 6032958 (7th Cir. 2011).

Opinion

ROVNER, Circuit Judge.

Bridgett Stevens lived in federally-subsidized public housing in South Bend, Indiana. 1 In 2008, she received three “Notice to Terminate Lease” letters from the Housing Authority of South Bend (“HASB”), each alleging that she had violated lease provisions that prohibited criminal activity on the property. After receiving the first notice, Stevens sued HASB and a number of individuals, alleging viola *302 tions of the Fair Housing Act, the Fourteenth Amendment, and certain provisions of Indiana state law. After receiving the third notice, she vacated the property. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the federal claims and declined to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims, dismissing them without prejudice. Stevens appeals.

I.

Stevens entered into a lease with HASB in September 2007. R. 62-5, at 6-23. Stevens was listed on the lease as “Resident.” The lease named her two sons, Alternando Stevens (then seventeen years old) and Armondo Brown (then eight years old), as “Household Members.” The lease provided, among other things, that certain criminal activities’ could result in immediate termination of the lease:

Criminal Activity Grounds for Termination by HASB. HASB has a One Strike or “Zero Tolerance” policy with respect to violations of Lease terms regarding criminal activity. Either of the following types of criminal activity by the Resident, any member of the household, a guest, or another person under their control shall be cause for termination of this Lease and eviction from the Dwelling Unit, even in the absence of an arrest or conviction:
(i) Any criminal activity that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of HASB public housing premises by other Residents; or
(ii) Any drug-related criminal activity on or off such premises.
ANY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY OR DRUG-RELATED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY SPECIFIED ABOVE CONSTITUTES A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF MATERIAL TERMS OF THE LEASE AND WILL BE GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION OF THE LEASE AND EVICTION FROM THE DWELLING UNIT. SUCH ACTIVITY CONSTITUTES GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION AND EVICTION NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABSENCE OF AN ARREST OR CONVICTION.

Dwelling Lease, R. 62-5, at 19-20 (emphasis in original).

Peace in the Stevens household was short-lived. On December 25, 2007, Stevens’ daughter, Ebony Harmon, came to visit with her children. Harmon and her children were driven to Stevens’ apartment building by Harmon’s boyfriend, Chester Higgins. At around the same time, Stevens’ son, Alternando flagged down Marcus Henderson for a ride home. Henderson was the father of Ebony Harmon’s children. Although there were different accounts of what happened when Henderson and Higgins encountered each other, it is undisputed that the two engaged in a gunfight in the parking lot of Stevens’ apartment building. Henderson fled before the police arrived, and Harmon drove a wounded Higgins to the hospital. Both men survived the incident.

On January 14, 2008, a few weeks after the shooting, HASB issued its first “Important 30 Day Notice to Terminate Lease” (“First Notice”) to Stevens. R. 62-5, at 24-26. Although Stevens disagrees with the portrayal of the shooting in the First Notice, she does not dispute that Henderson was at the property because Alternando asked him for a ride. Nor does she dispute that Higgins was there because he drove Stevens’ invited guest, Ebony Harmon, to the apartment. Citing the “Zero Tolerance” policy, the First Notice directed Stevens to vacate the apartment by January 31, 2008.

*303 Instead of moving out, Stevens filed this lawsuit against HASB, the executive director of HASB, and five commissioners of HASB. Stevens alleged that the defendants (1) violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b), by locating her publicly-funded apartment building in a primarily African-American neighborhood, segregating her on account of race; (2) interfered with her right to make and enforce a contract by terminating her lease on account of race; (3) breached a contract between themselves and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), for which Stevens was a third-party beneficiary; and (4) violated her right to equal protection and due process by threatening to take action against her under the Indiana ejectment statute, in contravention of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 2 In each instance, Stevens alleged that the defendants’ actions caused her emotional distress. She sought a declaratory judgment that the Indiana ejectment statute violates both state and federal law, an injunction against the application of the ejectment statute to her, and both compensatory and exemplary damages.

After Stevens filed her suit but before she served the defendants, HASB filed an action for immediate possession of Stevens’ unit in state court. When HASB became aware of the lawsuit, it dismissed the state court action and reasserted the claim for immediate possession as a compulsory counterclaim in the instant case.

On November 6, 2008, HASB issued an “Important 30-day Notice to Terminate Lease for Disturbing the Peace and for an Unauthorized Live In” (“Second Notice”). R. 62-5, at 27-29. The Second Notice asserted that the South Bend Police Department reported to HASB on November 5, 2008 that police officers were called to Stevens’ apartment to investigate a fight. The officers determined that Stevens had stabbed her husband, Christopher Broadnax, during an argument. 3 The Second Notice also alleged that the police had been called to the apartment on October 2, 2008, for another altercation between Stevens and Broadnax. At that time, Broadnax told police officers that he was on house arrest and was using Stevens’ unit as his principal place of residence. He also told the officers that Stevens was high on crack cocaine and had started the fight. The officers determined that there was an outstanding warrant for Stevens for an unrelated charge for retail theft and therefore arrested Stevens. The Second Notice, again citing the “One Strike” policy, directed Stevens to vacate the apartment by December 8, 2008.

Only a few weeks later, on November 24, 2008, HASB issued its final “Important 30-day Notice to Terminate Lease” (“Third Notice”) to Stevens. R. 62-5, at 30-33. Building on the incidents detailed in the Second Notice, HASB asserted that Broadnax accused Stevens of stabbing him on November 5th during an argument over the placement of his house arrest monitor in her home. Broadnax claimed to be living in Stevens’ apartment but was not listed as a “Household Member” on the lease. 4 Broadnax had also reported to the *304 responding police officers that Stevens was smoking marijuana a few hours before the fight.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
W.D. Wisconsin, 2026
Cureton v. ABC Network
E.D. Wisconsin, 2024
Martinez v. Saul
N.D. Illinois, 2021
Chad Conrad v. Boiron, Inc.
Seventh Circuit, 2017
Conrad v. Boiron, Inc.
869 F.3d 536 (Seventh Circuit, 2017)
Andriy Yasinskyy v. Eric Holder, Jr.
724 F.3d 983 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Jones v. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
502 F. App'x 587 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Killian v. Concert Health Plan
742 F.3d 651 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
663 F.3d 300, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23885, 2011 WL 6032958, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stevens-v-housing-authority-of-south-bend-ind-ca7-2011.