Ms. Rubinton, despite being asked at trial what actions were taken after termination of the subsidy and prior to eviction proceedings being commenced, provided no information as to any independent investigation conducted by landlord pertaining to suspected fraud as HUD required. On the contrary, she merely testified that she "reviewed the file" and instructed counsel to serve a notice of termination prior to commencing eviction proceedings (R96-97).
While landlord's letter to Ms. Quijano may have satisfied HUD regulations for termination of the Section 8 subsidy assistance based on the finding that Ms. Quijano had an unauthorized occupant in her apartment (see HUD Handbook § 8-6), that is not the relevant issue here. What is important here is that landlord's correspondence with Ms. Quijano fell far short of what was required to terminate her long-standing tenancy for material noncompliance of the lease based on fraud, the theory relied upon by the trial court in rendering its decision. There is no evidence that after termination of the subsidy, Ms. Quijano was given notice that landlord was investigating suspected fraud, or that it planned to evict her on that basis. Nor was she given the opportunity to meet with landlord's representatives to discuss such allegations or to present her objections prior to receiving the eviction notice.
The record thus shows that landlord, based upon its own agent's testimony and submitted exhibits, failed to distinguish the less stringent HUD requirements for terminating Section 8 benefits from the more significant prerequisites for terminating the tenancy. Further, the record reflects landlord's inability to prove compliance with the latter pretermination procedures, an issue which should and can be determined on this appeal.