Florida Civil Legal UPDATE

Four years ago, Michelle Trunkett and Jeffrey Hearne became the co-chairs of the Housing Umbrella Group.  I’ve mentioned many times that the HUG group has been the most active of our statewide umbrella groups and an example of what all of this technology, when combined with commitment, makes possible.  I received word earlier this year through Jeff that Michelle would be stepping down as co-chair.

Michelle Trunkett

From Jeffrey Hearne:

Those of you who were at the February meeting know that Michelle Trunkett has
resigned from being the HUG co-chair.   Without any knowledge of what we were
doing, Michelle and I became the co-chairs of HUG way back in 2005.  Over
these years, Michelle has volunteered time she didn’t really have to make sure
that the umbrella group had our monthly conference calls and annual trainings.
We all owe her a huge thank you for her service over the past four years.

Amidst the sad news (for HUG) that Michelle is stepping down, there is a silver lining.  Deborah Rivera from Three Rivers has stepped up and agreed to co-chair the group with Jeff.  We love a happy ending!  Good luck in all your endeavors, Michelle, and thank you for all you’ve done to advance the cause of justice.

By: Jeffrey Hearne, LSGMI

In August 2007, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it would take control of the Miami Dade Housing Agency (MDHA) because of financial and operational mismanagement.  After HUD’s takeover, MDHA’s Section 8 voucher program became completely dysfunctional — tenants’ housing assistance was terminated before MDHA held termination hearings, tenants could not timely obtain paperwork required to move with the housing assistance, the Section 8 office was closed without notice, and tenants were being terminated from the program without fair hearings.  MDHA’s failures created financial and emotional turmoil for many Section 8 participants, and in the worst cases, resulted in homelessness.

Despite numerous demands by attorneys from Legal Services of Greater Miami, MDHA and the HUD Oversight Administrator failed to take action to correct these significant problems.  In July 2008, LSGMI and Florida Legal Services filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of three single mothers who were improperly terminated from the Section 8 voucher program.  The lawsuit asked the Court to order MDHA to restore the women’s rental assistance and to order MDHA to make permanent changes to the operation of the Section 8 program.  The lawsuit also sought to recover money for the clients’ economic and emotional damages.

Immediately after the lawsuit was filed, MDHA agreed to restore the clients’ rental assistance.  After an early mediation, the parties reached a settlement which included $60,000 for our clients.  The settlement also included several systemic changes to the program’s operation.  These changes include specific timeframes for MDHA to process the paperwork which allows participants to move, specific timeframes for MDHA to approve new housing, and administrative safeguards to ensure that the housing subsidy will not be terminated without due process.  The county also agreed that this settlement will apply to the private company it recently hired to operate the Section 8 program.  This settlement will ensure that Section 8 participants in Miami Dade County will no longer have to worry about whether their housing assistance will stop without notice and they can be confident they will continue to benefit from this valuable government housing program.  This case was handled by LSGMI Senior Attorney Jeffrey Hearne and Charles Elsesser from Florida Legal Services.