The PHA grievance procedure must give a hearing before an impartial officer with a written decision

ph.termination_eviction.grievance_procedure_and_hearing · v1.0.0

Each PHA must adopt a grievance procedure affording each tenant an opportunity for a hearing on any dispute with respect to a PHA action or failure to act in accordance with the tenant's lease or PHA regulations which adversely affects the tenant's rights, duties, welfare or status. The procedure must be included in or incorporated by reference in all dwelling leases, must be furnished to each tenant and to resident organisations, and may be changed only after at least 30 days notice to tenants and resident organisations with an opportunity to present written comments which the PHA must consider. The PHA must meet the minimum procedural due process requirements of the subpart and any additional requirements imposed by local, state or federal law. A grievance must first be presented personally, orally or in writing, for informal settlement, and a written summary of that discussion naming the participants, the dates, the proposed disposition and its reasons, and the procedure for obtaining a hearing, must be prepared within a reasonable time and given to the tenant with a copy kept in the file. The hearing must be scheduled promptly at a time and place reasonably convenient to both parties before a hearing officer who is impartial and is neither the person who made or approved the decision under review nor a subordinate of that person, and whose selection policy the PHA must describe in its lease form. The tenant must be able to examine before the hearing any PHA documents directly relevant to it, and where the PHA does not make a document available on request it may not rely on that document at the hearing. The tenant is entitled to be represented, to a private hearing unless a public one is requested, to present evidence and to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and to a decision based solely and exclusively on the facts presented at the hearing. The complainant must first show an entitlement to the relief sought, after which the PHA must sustain the burden of justifying its action or failure to act. The PHA must provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities to participate and must provide notices in an accessible format to a visually impaired tenant. The hearing officer must prepare a written decision with reasons within a reasonable time, send it to both parties, retain a copy in the tenant's folder, and the PHA must maintain a log of all hearing officer decisions available on request to a hearing officer, a prospective complainant or a prospective complainant's representative. The decision binds the PHA unless the Board of Commissioners determines that the grievance does not concern a PHA action or failure to act adversely affecting the complainant, or that the decision is contrary to applicable federal, state or local law, HUD regulations or the annual contributions contract. Where HUD has issued a due process determination for the jurisdiction, the PHA may exclude from the administrative grievance procedure a grievance concerning a termination or eviction involving criminal activity that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises of other residents or PHA employees, violent or drug-related criminal activity on or off the premises, or criminal activity resulting in a felony conviction of a household member.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2016-03-08

Consequence model

agency finding with cure

Last reviewed

2026-08-30