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Johnson was evicted for committing serious and/or repeated violations of the lease (24
C.F.R. § 982.552(b)(2)). The notice explained, “You violated the family obligations by
committing serious and/or repeated violations of your lease agreement, failing to submit
the eviction notices within 5 days, and failing to provide additional information necessary
to administer the section 8 program.” It continued, “You failed to submit the following
eviction notices to [the housing authority] within 5 days: Unlawful detainer for case #RG
16818543, and the corresponding summons and writ of possession. On 2/9/2017, you
were requested to submit the unlawful detainer and all other eviction documentation at
the meeting scheduled on 2/21/2017. You failed to submit these requested documents. On
3/15/17 you were again requested to submit a copy of the unlawful detainer by
3/29/2017. You did not submit a copy of this eviction notice as required by the
participant obligations.” The notice advised Johnson that her assistance would terminate
effective May 24, 2017 and that she could appeal the decision by making a request for an
informal hearing.
Johnson made a written request for an informal hearing, which took place on May
23, 2017. At the hearing, the housing authority submitted numerous documents in support
of its termination decision, including the landlord’s notices and the community incident
report referenced in the meeting summary and the judgment entered in the unlawful
detainer action. According to the hearing officer’s decision, “a representative of [the
housing authority] testified that Ms. Johnson violated her family obligation by
committing serious and/or repeated violations of her lease agreement [and] also failed to
submit the eviction notices within 5 days . . . . [¶] Furthermore, Ms. Johnson was evicted
from her unit effective January 19, 2017.” Johnson testified and also presented
documentary evidence in support of her defense. According to the hearing officer’s
written decision, “Johnson testified that she was a good resident and that folks in her
building, including her daughter, made false allegations about her to apartment
management which led to her eviction. She also claimed that the property manager was
corrupt and . . . conspired with residents in the building to get her evicted.” The hearing
officer observed that “[m]ost of Ms. Johnson’s testimony was not germane to the