Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority Illegally Fails to Notify Tenants of Rent Exemptions, Class Action Lawsuit Claims

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Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) faces a proposed class action lawsuit over its alleged failure to inform public housing residents experiencing financial hardship about their right to request rent exemptions.

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According to the 27-page case, federal law allows public housing authorities (PHA) to set a minimum monthly rent of no more than $50 for low-income tenants. Residents have the right to seek an exemption from this minimum rent should they experience economic hardship that prevents them from making payments, the suit explains. In such cases, PHAs are statutorily required to “immediately grant” hardship exemptions to qualifying households, the filing says.

The complaint claims RRHA, the largest PHA in Virginia, has denied residents this benefit by failing to provide potentially eligible tenants with adequate notice of their right to request a hardship exemption. This oversight, the RRHA lawsuit asserts, has resulted in the systematic overcharging of the defendant’s most economically disadvantaged residents.

“When residents paying minimum rent experience financial hardship, RRHA’s Illegal Overcharge Practice places them in an impossible position, where they must pay rent they cannot afford, forego other life necessities, or risk eviction and homelessness,” the suit contends.

Per the filing, there are hundreds of families in the Richmond area paying minimum rent to RRHA while wholly unaware that they can request a rent exemption should they face a qualifying financial hardship. Under the federal Housing Act, a qualifying hardship could include situations where, for example, a family would be evicted for nonpayment of minimum rent, a resident has lost eligibility for governmental assistance, or household income has decreased due to changed circumstances, the complaint relays.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development instructs PHAs to communicate tenants’ right to a hardship exemption at admission and reexamination, during direct conversations with families who may qualify, and via door hangers, community bulletin boards, postcards, simple request forms and other easily accessible means, the case says. The suit argues that RRHA’s only exemption disclosures are buried within its lease agreement and Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy.

“Unsurprisingly, RRHA can document only one instance since 2019 where a resident has even requested relief under the hardship exemption,” the case claims.

The lawsuit looks to represent any current or former residents of RRHA-owned, -operated or -controlled public housing units who resided in those units at any point since February 2020, whose rent is now, has been during the last five years, or will be set at the minimum rent.

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