| On June 8, 2005, Governor Guinn signed into law Assembly Bill 355. This bill amended the Nevada Administrative Procedures Act to allow for judicial review of the decisions of Nevada Housing Authorities to terminate Section 8 vouchers or certificates. The Bill takes effect on October 1, 2005. You can read the entire Bill here: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/73rd/Reports/history.cfm?ID=1958.
Tenants who now have Section 8 vouchers or certificates can have their vouchers or certificates terminated by an administrative decision by their Housing Authority for numerous reasons such as the tenant violating their obligations under the Housing Assistance Program contract. Under existing law, the Housing Authority has to give the tenant notice that the tenant has a right to an informal and a formal administrative hearing before the Housing Authority. The Housing Authority then makes a ruling on its decision to terminate the tenant’s voucher. Even if the tenant prevails at the formal hearing, the Housing Authority’s Executive Director has the right to overturn the decision of his hearing officer. Under existing law, the tenant has no other option available to review the decision of the Housing Authority and the tenant loses their Section 8 Voucher. The new law, AB 355, amends the Nevada Administrative Procedures Act to allow a tenant to seek judicial review of a Housing Authority’s decision to terminate their Section 8 voucher. The change in the law was sought because cases have occurred where Section 8 vouchers were terminated with no basis in law or for arbitrary and capricious reasons. Tenants lost their Section 8 vouchers and very often ended up homeless. Now there are additional legal protections for Section 8 tenants. They can have the termination decision reviewed by the County Justice Court Judge. Your local legal services organization will be able to give you information regarding the process of applying for judicial review of the termination of your Section 8 voucher. | 