HUD charges Grapevine Housing Authority with discrimination against tenant
A federal agency Monday accused the Grapevine Housing Authority of discriminating against a tenant with a medical disability.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development claims Grapevine public housing officials illegally terminated a diabetic resident’s lease after he suffered a “medical episode” in his building four years ago. The tenant lived in one of 40 authority-administered units set aside for elderly people and those with disabilities, almost half of the 98 affordable residences it manages with federal support.
“Public Housing Authorities may not evict tenants because of disability symptoms that can be reasonably accommodated,” HUD General Counsel Damon Smith said in a statement Monday. “HUD is committed to actively enforcing the Act in its efforts to eradicate housing discrimination.”
The saga began on Sept. 11, 2020. About three hours past midnight, according to the agency’s complaint, the tenant’s blood sugar plummeted. He fumbled for his phone to request assistance but couldn’t find it.
He then stumbled into the hallway in an attempt to walk to his mother’s house, a mile away. Dazed and nervous, he knocked on a neighbor’s door, HUD claims; at least two neighbors promptly called the police. Officers arrived minutes later, escorting the disoriented tenant back to his unit and reassuring other residents that he meant no harm.
“At no time did the police arrest, cite, or ticket Complainant for the events that occurred on September 11, 2020,” HUD’s complaint reads. “No neighbors ever informed the police that Complainant threatened them.”
Grapevine’s city attorney Matthew Boyle says the tenant tried to forcibly enter at least two Housing Authority units.
“The Housing Authority could not sit idly by and ignore the frightening and dangerous acts of the Charging Party especially when two of those tenants’ lodged complaints about his acts,” Boyle wrote in a statement to the Star-Telegram.
Doctors diagnosed the tenant with hypertension and ketonuria the following day, the complaint continued. His physicians over the years had prescribed him an elaborate diet of medications to keep his diabetes and unspecified heart conditions in check, according to HUD officials.
The tenant found an eviction notice on his door three days later. The Grapevine Housing Authority said he had engaged “in behavior that threatens the safety of tenants.” The tenant challenged the letter’s characterization of events during a hearing before authority leaders three days later; they moved forward with his expulsion.
An eviction court sided with GHA during a hearing in October 2020. The tenant appealed the decision (recurring bouts in hospital delayed the hearings).
Feeling enough time had passed since the incident that precipitated the original proceedings, GHA ultimately voided the eviction and offered the tenant a renewed lease in August 2021. The tenant signed the contract, only to leave the property a few months later out of fear that the agency could evict him again on a whim.
He’s now seeking compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial costs he claims to have endured through the ordeal. Grapevine officials elected to push the dispute to federal court.
Federal housing laws obligate landlords to “make reasonable accommodations and allow reasonable modifications that may be necessary” to their renters with disabilities. Other anti-discrimination statutes mandate that any “federally-assisted program or activity” — e.g. the Grapevine Housing Authority — make “reasonable accommodations” for participants with disabilities to ensure they enjoy public benefits as much as their able-bodied peers. HUD claims its Grapevine subsidiary fell short on all fronts.
“The Charging Party was fully and reasonably accommodated as he was never forced to vacate his unit at the Grapevine Housing Authority,” Boyle, the city attorney, countered. “The Charge lacks merit both factually and legally.”
