Federal law requires PHAs to reject applicants who have been evicted from federally funded housing programs for drug-related criminal activity for a 3-year period following the date of such an eviction. There are two exceptions: a) the evicted household member has completed a rehabilitation program; or b) the circumstances leading to the eviction no longer exist (e.g., the household member whose conduct led to the eviction has died or is in prison).1 PHAs may extend the 3-year ban at their discretion. Negotiating a consent judgment rather than a judgment of eviction may help prevent future negative repercussions under this provision.2
- 124 C.F.R. § 960.204(a)(1).
- 2Note that a PHA’s reliance on the judgment as conclusive proof of drug-related criminal activity constitutes offensive collateral estoppel by a non-party. Such an extreme use of preclusion is unsupported by Louisiana precedent. See Alonzo v. State, 2002-0527, p. 9 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/8/04); 884 So. 2d 634, 639.