Pubdate: Mon, 13 Nov 2000
Source: Akron Beacon-Journal (OH)
Copyright: 2000 by the Beacon Journal Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.ohio.com/bj/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?abeacon
Author: William Canterbury

WOMAN IS FIGHTING RENT CUTOFF BY AMHA

Rent subsidy is denied after son's drug arrest three miles from home

Erma George believes that people should be held responsible for stopping
illegal activities in their homes.

But she draws the line at being able to control the illegal actions of a
family member when they do not occur near her home and she is not aware of
them.

That issue of "family obligations" is the focus of a controversy in which
the 48-year-old George has found herself embroiled.

She lives in a home on Stanton Avenue in South Akron, and the Akron
Metropolitan Housing Authority pays most of her rent under the federal
Section 8 subsidy program. She signed the lease, and her 19-year-old son,
Antoine George, lived with her.

But now the AMHA is denying George her Section 8 subsidy because her son was
convicted of crack cocaine possession in June.

He was arrested in March after police stopped him for speeding on Interstate
77 about three miles from home. A bag of drugs was found just outside the
car.

Erma George, who believes her son is innocent and didn't understand court
procedures, said her private landlord will evict her for inability to pay
the rent if AMHA's ruling stands.

So she recently filed suit in Summit County Common Pleas Court against AMHA,
contending that denial of her assistance is unconstitutional.

AMHA officials, who are allowing George to keep her monthly subsidy pending
the outcome of the case, believe this is the first time the issue has been
taken to Common Pleas Court.

The suit contends that ending George's subsidy because of her son's
involvement in drug activity away from her house exceeds the authority of
the AMHA and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, both of which bar drug activity and violent crime in their
properties.

George, who doesn't know where she would live if her subsidy ends, said she
suffers back trouble from two injuries and has been unable to get a job. She
has applied for Social Security disability benefits.

Her son, who was sentenced to nine months of probation on the condition that
he keep a full-time job and finish his high school equivalency degree, now
lives with relatives in Cleveland.

After getting a letter from AMHA on July 31 telling her that she was being
denied housing assistance, Erma George notified the agency that she "had
never had any drugs sold on these premises and there never would be any sold
on these premises."

She lost an appeal through arbitration, and then filed suit in court. No
hearing date has been set.

AMHA attorney Virginia Robinson said that the denial is based on an
amendment to U.S. housing laws that took effect in October 1998. It provides
for termination of assistance for having illegal drug users and alcohol
abusers in federally subsidized housing.

"It refers to both tenants and members of the household," Robinson said.

She said the denial was not based on a previous HUD regulation that only
dealt with criminal activity occurring "on or near the premises" of the
tenant.

George's attorney, Vincent Margolius of Cleveland, said the case is
important "because we have to determine whether AMHA is overreaching" its
authority.

He said it's a distortion of the law to punish a third party "for someone
else's drug usage."

He said if George is forced to give up her Section 8 housing, "she loses a
critical lifeline -- affordable housing. . . . The woman doesn't have the
resources to go out and get alternative housing and shouldn't be punished by
AMHA when the threat is gone."

Vincent Curry, director of Fair Housing Associates, an advocacy agency for
equal housing rights that filed the complaint on George's behalf, called
AMHA's policy too broad.

"It's too much of a burden to make a tenant responsible for what goes on in
the streets," Curry said. "It punishes innocent people."

In a recent letter to HUD Secretary Andrew L. Cuomo, Curry asked HUD to
consider suspending its "unconscionable implementation" of allowing housing
authorities like AMHA to evict families for illegal drug activity by
relatives away from the premises.

Such a rule overburdens minorities and low-income people, Curry charged,
"and increases the number of homeless people in this country."

He quoted George as saying, " `My job is not to control what happens in the
streets and away from my home, but to control what happens in and around my
home.' "
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