Theodore Hayes v. Philip Harvey (2018)

Citation: Theodore Hayes v. Philip Harvey (2018)
Parent Document: Theodore Hayes v. Philip Harvey (2018)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2018-08-31
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4532088/theodore-hayes-v-philip-harvey/ ↗

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vague terms or ancillary provisions—it does not, one might
say, hide elephants in mouseholes.” Whitman v. Am. Trucking
Associations, 531 U.S. 457, 468 (2001). Creating a new,
enforceable “right to remain,” however, would certainly be an
alteration of a “fundamental detail[] of [this] regulatory
scheme”—an elephant hiding in a mousehole. Id.
        The question then becomes: what does “may elect to
remain” mean? After all, it must mean something, given that a
“statute should be construed to give effect to all its provisions,
so that no part will be inoperative or superfluous, void or
insignificant.” Corley v. United States, 556 U.S. 303, 314
(2009) (quoting Hibbs v. Winn, 542 U.S. 88, 101 (2004)).
Likewise, “[w]hen Congress acts to amend a statute, we
presume it intends its amendment to have real and substantial
effect.” Stone v. INS, 514 U.S. 386, 397 (1995). The answer is
that the language provides enhanced-voucher recipients with a
guarantee that they will not be evicted, during their lease term,
by a landlord who refuses to accept enhanced vouchers as part
of their rental payment. As the Ninth Circuit explained:
        The statute gives “assisted families” the right “to
        remain in the same project.” The statute also
        authorizes owners to raise their rents to a
        reasonable market rate and to receive a housing
        assistance payment, by means of an enhanced
        voucher, to cover the authorized increases in
        rent. It does not authorize owners to raise their
        rents to a reasonable market rate, but then to
        refuse to accept payment by means of an
        enhanced voucher, and evict an “assisted family”
        for nonpayment of rent. Practically, the statute
        requires owners to permit tenants to remain in the
        housing complex while paying only their
        statutorily prescribed portion of the rent.

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