Does Tenant with Offending Family Member Qualify for Section 8?

Tenant applied for admission to the Section 8 Existing Housing Program, and said that she and her husband would live apart if she qualified. NYCHA didn’t believe tenant and denied her application. She had been married since 1981, with no proof that the relationship had ended. Since the husband had been convicted of a crime, he was an “offending person” under NYCHA guidelines. Tenant appealed, claiming that NYCHA’s decision was unreasonable. The court ruled for tenant and sent the case back for further consideration. Under NYCHA rules, tenant’s family would be ineligible until the husband served his time and had no further convictions or pending charges for six years after completing his sentence. The husband got out of prison in 1993. So NYCHA had to show that completion of his sentence was extended by probation or parole beyond 2001. NYCHA had to determine whether tenant cured her ineligibility.

McNair v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 3/31/10, p. 26, col. 3 (Sup. Ct. Kings; Lewis, J)