Do I get a notice if I am denied housing?
Yes. If you have been denied public or subsidized housing, you must get a written notice telling you that you have been denied.1 Read this notice very carefully. It must state the reason that you have been denied housing and tell you the deadline by which you can challenge this denial. You have a right to challenge (
This appeal may be called a
Note
If you have a disability, you can request areasonable accommodation to your disability so that you can live in the building. This request for a reasonable accommodation should be written and submitted along with your request for an appeal hearing on your denial. See Reasonable Accommodations for more information about reasonable accommodations.
How much time do I have to challenge a denial?
A denial letter must tell you the deadline by which you can challenge (
Important
Save the envelope the decision came in; the postmark will show when it was actually mailed and it will be assumed that you received it 3 days later.
State public housing
If a housing authority turns you down for state public housing, you have the right to request a
Federal public housing
You must request an
Vouchers
If a housing authority denies your application for a Section 8 voucher, the denial notice must tell you how to get an
If a housing authority denies your application for an MRVP voucher or for an AHVP voucher, your rights to appeal the denial are the same as the rights of state public housing applicants (see above).
Multifamily housing
If you are denied federal multifamily housing that is not overseen by MassHousing, you have 14 days to respond in writing or to request a meeting to discuss the denial.5
If you are denied multifamily housing overseen by MassHousing, you can request a conference by sending the owner or management a written letter within 5 working days after you receive the denial letter.6 They will then schedule a conference within 15 days from the date of the notice.
How do I challenge a denial of public housing?
State public housing
You can challenge (
- The severity of the potentially disqualifying conduct.
- The amount of time that has passed since the misconduct.
- The degree of danger to the health, safety, and security of others.
- The degree of danger, if any, to other tenants, their possessions, or the housing development if the conduct recurred.The disruption and inconvenience which recurrence would cause the housing authority.
- The likelihood that your behavior in the future would be substantially improved.7
In short, the housing authority must weigh your past bad conduct against the
You must make a request for a conference within 20 days of receiving a denial letter. At the conference, the housing authority must either tape-record the proceedings or take accurate notes.8 You can also tape-record the hearing and take notes. Within 15 working days after the conference, the housing authority notifies you in writing of its decision.9
Before and at the conference, you have the right to examine the documents that the housing authority used in making its decision to deny you.10
If the housing authority still denies your application, you can request a reconsideration of the decision, in writing, within 14 days of the date that the decision from the conference was mailed to you. You should include in your request any new relevant information. The housing authority will not have a reconsideration hearing; it will look only at the new information you presented.11
Instead of filing a request for reconsideration, or if the housing authority still denies you after the reconsideration, you can appeal the denial to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). You must mail your written request for review and a hearing to DHCD within 21 days of the date on when the negative decision was mailed to you.12 DHCD will contact you and the housing authority to arrange a date for the hearing, which may be held at the local housing authority for everyone's convenience. This is a new chance for you to present your case all over again, with new witnesses and new letters of support, even if they were not presented at the housing authority level.13
If you still lose at the DHCD level, you have the right to have the DHCD decision reviewed by the Superior Court. You must file your written request for judicial review of the agency decision within 30 days of your receipt of the DHCD decision.14
Federal public housing
You can challenge the denial of federal public housing by requesting, in writing, an informal hearing. See Sample Letter Requesting a Hearing RTF. You must make this request within a reasonable time, which is usually stated in the letter. The housing authority must consider when the unfavorable behavior occurred and how serious it was. It can consider factors which might show that your future behavior will be better. Examples of these factors include evidence of rehabilitation and evidence of your willingness to go to appropriate social service and counseling programs.15
If you lose your informal hearing, you have no more appeals at the housing authority level. The only way for you to challenge the denial after losing your informal hearing is to sue the housing authority in court.16
How do I challenge the denial of a Section 8 voucher?
You can challenge the denial of a Section 8 voucher by requesting, in writing, an informal review. The deadline for requesting such review varies among housing authorities, and should be contained in their Administrative Plans. Your denial letter should also spell out the deadline for appealing. At this informal review, you can tell the housing agency why you disagree with its denial of your application. You will have the opportunity to explain why you think that their information is incorrect or why you think you would be a good tenant in spite of the negative information about your tenant history.17
The housing authority can consider the seriousness of the bad behavior, how deeply your family was involved in the bad behavior, the disability of a family member, and the effects of the denial on other family members who were not involved in the bad behavior.18
A housing authority can change a denial into an acceptance for the Section 8 program if you show
After the informal review, the housing authority has to send you a notice telling you its final decision. If you lose the informal review, there are no more appeals within the housing authority unless the housing authority's Section 8 Administrative Plan specifically provides for another hearing. If you still want to try to get Section 8, you would have to bring a lawsuit against the housing authority in court if you believe there are sufficient grounds.20
Whom do I meet with to challenge a denial?
The purpose of challenging a denial is to have someone reconsider the housing authority's or subsidized landlord's decision. This is your opportunity to address various concerns raised in the denial letter, show them that certain information was not correct, provide them with documentation that is needed, and explain why you think you would be a good tenant, despite any negative information that may have come up during the application process. Whom you will meet with during your
Public housing
If you have applied to state or federal public housing, the
Vouchers
If you have applied for a Section 8 voucher, the
If you have been denied an MRVP voucher or an AHVP voucher, the state public housing rules apply (see above).
Multifamily housing
If you have applied for state or federal multifamily housing that is overseen by MassHousing, a MassHousing conference officer will conduct the conference.
If you have applied for multifamily housing that is not overseen by MassHousing, the meeting or review of your request to review a denial of housing must be conducted by a member of the owner's staff who did not make the decision to reject you. You can choose either to present your case at a hearing or to have the owner review the written materials that you have sent in.
How do I challenge the denial of multifamily housing?
Federal multifamily housing
If you have been denied federally funded multifamily housing, you have 14 days to respond in writing or to verbally request a meeting to discuss the rejection. Your request should be in writing. If you are disabled, you can tell this to the owner and request that she make a reasonable accommodation to your disability so that you could live in the building.23
If you meet with the owner about your denial, or if you submit a written statement, the meeting or review of your statement must be conducted by a member of the owner's staff who did not make the decision to reject you.The property owner must consider factors such as:
- How involved the applicant was in the bad behavior,
- How serious the offense was,Whether the person has been rehabilitated,
- What effect accepting or rejecting a family for housing will have on the innocent household members, and
- Whether the person has participated in social service programs.24
If you appeal the rejection, the owner must give you a written final decision within 5 days of your written statement or meeting.25 If you lose at this level, there is no further review by the owner. The law is very unclear about what kind of court review of the decision you might be entitled to.
State multifamily subsidized housing
If an owner or manager of multifamily subsidized housing funded through MassHousing (formerly MHFA) denies your application, the owner must send you a written notice which says why you were denied.26 You can request a conference by sending the owner or management a written letter within 5 working days after you receive the denial letter.27 They will then schedule a conference within 15 days from the date of the notice. You will get a letter telling you when and where to appear for the conference.
A MassHousing conference officer will conduct the conference. The management will explain why they denied your application and present whatever evidence they have. They can talk only about the reasons they included in the denial letter. You should present any evidence that you have and you should explain why you think your application should not be denied.
If the MassHousing conference officer decides that the owner had the right to deny your application, you will get a written decision, which you can appeal in writing within 5 working days to the Senior Management Officer at MassHousing for a further review. You will then get a written decision from this review. There is no further administrative review (that is, review within MassHousing) of the decision. If you still want to challenge it, you will have to sue in court.
Note
Remember that if you have a disability and you think you were denied housing because of your disability, you should request a reasonable accommodation in addition to requesting a review of the denial. The housing provider should respond to your reasonable accommodation request. See Reasonable Accommodations for more information about this.
Endnotes
1 State: Public housing and Alternative Housing Voucher Program: 760 C.M.R. § 5.05(3). Federal public housing: 24 C.F.R. § 960.208; Section 8: 24 C.F.R. § 982.554(a).
2 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(1)(b).
3 24 C.F.R. § 960.208(a).
4 24 C.F.R. § 982.554(a).
5
6
7 760 C.M.R. § 5.08(2).
8 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(1)(g).
9 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(2).
10 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(1)(e).
11 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(3).
12 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(4);
13 See
14 G.L. c. 30A, § 14.
15 24 C.F.R. § 960.203(d).
16 Judicial review of a denial of federal housing can be brought under G.L. c. 249, §4, by means of certiorari, which has a 60-day statute of limitations, or by a Section 1983 action, which has a three-year statute of limitations. Generally, certiorari is necessary only as a back-up to a Section 1983 claim in case the court sees the claim not as one of noncompliance with federal law, but as one of failure to comply with agency procedures and policies.
17 24 C.F.R. § 982.554(b)(2).
18 24 C.F.R. § 982.552(c)(2)(i).
19 24 C.F.R. § 982.553(a)(2)(ii)(c).
20 24 C.F.R. § 982.554(c).
21 760 C.M.R. § 5.13(1)(f).
22 24 C.F.R. § 982.554(b)(1).
23
24 Federal multifamily housing: 24 C.F.R. § 5.852(a) and (c); Section 8 moderate rehabilitation program: 24 C.F.R. § 882.518(b)(3);
25
26
27 Id.
Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Last updated December 2009
