2.9.1 Grounds for Termination

Grounds for program termination include any family member’s act or failure to act that results in a failure to fulfill the Family Obligations.1  Such failures include a family member’s absence from the unit, failing to notify the housing authority of an eviction notice or subsequent eviction from the unit, abandoning the unit (including constructive abandonment by leaving the unit unoccupied for more than 180 days), subletting the unit, failing to give the housing authority notice before vacating the unit, failing to provide proof of citizenship or immigration status, failing to allow HQS inspections, committing bribery or fraud in connection with the program, and not promptly informing the PHA of additions to the household.2

Participants can also be terminated from the HCVP if they are evicted for a “serious violation of the lease.”3  Defenses to termination may include that the eviction was for something other than a lease violation, that the tenant was not at fault, that the lease violation was not serious, that the eviction was illegal under applicable law, that another statutory protection should have precluded the eviction (e.g., VAWA or FHA protections), and that other circumstances argue against terminating assistance (if the local Administrative Plan so provides).

In proving a serious violation of the lease, the PHA should not be able to rely simply on the fact that the eviction judgment was issued. For the PHA to rely on the judgment as conclusive proof of a serious violation constitutes offensive collateral estoppel by a non-party. This extreme use of preclusion is unsupported by Louisiana precedent.4

Once a person becomes a participant, the HCVP becomes very unforgiving when it comes to criminal activity. Where federal law mandates that each PHA establish rules that allow it to terminate assistance if it determines that a family member is currently engaged in or has a pattern of illegal drug use or drug-related criminal activity, engaged in violent criminal activity, or engaged in alcohol abuse that may threaten others, the PHA must prove any such action by preponderance of evidence.5  As with a denial of assistance, any criminal record relied upon by the PHA must be presented to the family for an opportunity to review and dispute the accuracy and relevance of that record.6

• 1See 24 C.F.R. § 982.551.
• 224 C.F.R. §§ 982.551, .552(e).
• 324 C.F.R. § 982.551(b)(2).
• 4See Alonzo v. State ex rel. Dep’t of Nat. Res., 2002-0527, p. 8 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/8/04), 884 So. 2d 634, 638–39.
• 524 C.F.R. § 982.555(e)(6).
• 624 C.F.R. §§ 982.555(e)(2), .553(d).