Matter of Bull v New York City Hous. Auth.

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Matter of Bull v New York City Hous. Auth. 2012 NY Slip Op 32330(U) August 29, 2012 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: 400612/2012 Judge: Arlene P. Bluth Republished from New York State Unified Court System's E-Courts Service. Search E-Courts (http://www.nycourts.gov/ecourts) for any additional information on this case. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. NNED ON 911012012 [* 1] STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY Index Number : 400612/2012 BULL, ALBERTHA MITCHELL vs. NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY SEQUENCE NUMBER : 001 ARTICLE 78 , b MOTION DATE MOTION 8EQ. NO. ' -_ _ 1 I, 1 i I - I I ? ,were reAd pn thlp motlon tolfor I The followirpp_apen, numbered 1 to Notice of MottmiOrder to Show Cause I 1 -Affldavlts --'ErhlGlts INO($). I IW s ) . 2IW n ) . Answerlng Affldavlts - Exhibit8 Replying Affldavlta M Upon the foregdng papem, It Is ordered that thlc : 1 Y > h j / . I F I s P 4 : i " I Dated: q/&y#/[ 2 / ' I CHECK ONE: ....,,..,......,....,.....,,,,,,..,... . .............................. , ., , 2: CHECK AS APPRqpRIATE: ,, . I ,, . ........................... MOTION IS: 3. CHECK IF APPRO~RIATE:......t......................................... j , /j , .* > , :pDENIEQ a GRP WED IN PART , ' ,, [* 2] SUPKEMIC COIJRr17O F T H E S I ATE OF NY COUNTY OF NEW J ORK: PAKT 4 In thc Mattcr o l Ihc Application of Albcrtha MitcliclP Hull, Indcx No.: 4486/1 I DECISION, ORDER Petifion er, ANI) JIJDGMENI -qainst- Present: I I O N . ARLENE P. BLUTH Ncw York City llousiiig Authority, K L y 3 011 &It t. Upon the l oreggoing papers, it is OIIIIBREL) and ADJIJDGED thc petition is dciried and thc procccding is dismissed. Petitioner, who is sclf-rcpresenkd, seeks lo reversc rcspoiidciit New York City Housing ALilIiorily s (NYCI IA s) dctcrminalion to terminate hcr te11ancyat Avenue D, Apartment #71: in M;iiiIiattaii. liespondenl NYCHA opposes the petition and contcniis that i t acted rcasonnbly. lawful ly and properly in lerminating pctitioiicr s tcnancy. this I ctitioncl- C O I I ~ I I ; ~ I I C C ~ proceding challenging N Y C l i A s 1:cbruat-y 33,20 I2 dctcrtiiiiiatioii of status \vhich upheld the hearing ollicer s action i n sustaining the charges that pctitioncr fjlcd false aflidavits oi iriconie 1 c)reight years by intcntionally concealing employment and sucial seclirily inconie, resulting i n licr undcrpay~iiun~ rent. In suplm-t, pctitionci- simply of states that she iiccds 11101-e time to gct a iicw placc to live (pet., para. 3). Page 1 of 5 [* 3] Housing and LJrbaii Development ( HIJD ) Spccit?cullq,NYC HA riiust certily aririually to I IIJ1) that it has aciniitted iiidividuals to piiblic housing in accordance with HlJD rcgulalions. See LJSC $14 37 ci seq; 24 C FR $5 9hO.20l(a) Rr ( c ) . 1 I I I11 regulations iiirthcr iiiaridate that NYCIIA regulxly monitor fLmiily composi tiori and iriconic, aiid that this inhrmition be reexamined regularly. Pcdcl-al r-cgulalioiis empower NYCHA to tcrniinatc 3 tcnaricy for scriou:, CY rcpeated viulaiions of thc 1iiatCriiLJ terms of the lease; one ol those rnaterial terms is tlic tcnant s obligalion to furiiisli coriiplcte and accurate income information. If a tenant (or household membcr) submits this forms to NYCFIIA which contain misrcpl.csentatioi~s, conduct constilules the crime of offcring a Ihlse instrumcnt for filing with a public authority in violation of qtatc arid I ederal law. &e, c.g. 18 IJSC 6 1001 (I elony Ii.aud statute); I cnal I ,aw 6 175.35 (lelony oi ol fring a falsc instrumcnt fol- filing with a piiblic aiitliority). - licariiig niid decisioi1 Thc A Iicariiig W:IS Iicld bel ore hearing officer .loan Paiiiicll on 7/15/1 1 , X/24/1 1 and 1/17/12 on thc charges L)L p d itioner s noli-desirability, inisrt.pres~ntalion, non-verikiblc income aiid biwch of 1.~1Ic.c pci.tainiiig to income rcpofling. At h : t hcaiiig, N YCHA s C liiel 1nvestig;itor in (he 011-iceof thc I iis1mtc)r Gciieral tcstiticd that a l k r hi>,ol licc discovered that pctitioiier used Iwo clil ierenl social sccurity nuiiihcrs, Ihal for tlic period 1Si99 throty,h 2OO7, a niinimuin), tcnant was cmployed by the .lcwish 1 Ionic (at and Iiospitd for tlic / ~ g c rand that pititiuner reccived rctircincnt bcnctits during that same ~, period, tlic Tnspc.cior C;ene;al arresied petitioner i n May 201 0. On Novcmbei~ 20 10, petitioner, 17, Page 2 of 5 [* 4] who was rcprcscnted by counscl, plcci giiilty to grand larceny in ilic tliirci degrec ( a class r> lklony) and :rckriowIedgc.d that shc stole fiinds from NYCHA from I999 thro~igli 2008 by not I-cpoi-ting Iicr iiicoiiie and working will1 a social sccurity number difikrcnt li-om thc one SIX supplied to NYCI 1A. l lie1)ecember 28, 20 10 certi licatc of disposition, it~t~n~duccd evidcnce, showed inlo that pclilioncr w;is seiitcnccd to live yea13 probation and rcstitdon iii thc sum o f $26,865.O0. Pctitioncr s evidence at thc hearing iiiercly consisled of Icstinioiiy about hcr- health, and tllLit slic was 011 wailing lists and would rnovc out of h e apartnicrit whcn she ca11. S l ~ c also noted h a t ever-ybody should have a sucond chance . fktitioncr now argues that the ~erminationshould be reverscd because she has 6 placcs on 11ie waiting list (pet., para. 3 ) . Page 3 of 5 [* 5] A n occupant iri a piiblic housing projjcct call bc evicled h r coriccaling or iinder-rcportirig ilicomt: received during tlic tcriancy. SIJL Ncwlon 11 Mi4nicipd F1oii.s. A u / h j & /he c ily o/ Yonkcrs, 47 ArXd 522, 363 NYS2d 28 (2d Dcpt 1975). AS such, thc penalty oI termination lins bccn found iiol lo shoch the conscier~c where the tenant coiicealed hcr Ilusband s income froin N Y (:I 1 A, tlicrcby lowcriiig the tmant s relit Sec Smith 11 Nciu J ork C i/,y Z101c.i Aicth , 40 AD3d 335, 835 NYS2d 1.31 (1 13cpl 2007). I , S ~ i dalso Illiinil v Ncii York I ity IZous Azith , 72 P.113d 528. 901 N YS2d 158 (1 Dept 201 0) ( ~ ~ c n a limposcd lbr egregiouq riiisrcpresentation over ; fivc-year ly I p c r i ~ ~ d riot shock thc conscience), docs Based 011 its rcvicw of thc record, the Court h d s that a rational basis exists i or NYCI IA s decision lo terminate petitioner s tcnancy, arid thus thal decision cannot bc disturbed by t his C oiirt. Hcl-e, at a iiiiiiiiiiLiiii, pcti tioner admitled she stole from NI CHA. As such, contrary to bciiig arbitrary and capricious, NYCHA s docision to tcrriiinale petitioner s Iciiancy is in keeping with its q1atutoi.y obligation to adliere to its procedures. As Ihc IIcaririg Ol licer Parlncll noted in hcr dccisioii: Iniiividuals who tlu-ougli iiiisrcpl-cseiitation obtain i h m thc tax-paying public ;i greater subsidy than that to which [hey LI.K enlitlcd arc not eligible for tenancy I Iic only appropriate disposition is tciinination. r 7 Page 4 of 5 [* 6] Significantly, pctitioner does 1101 disputc that tcrmirialion is the appropriate remedy [or her fraudulent arid cri ini i m l conduct, Accordingly. it is OI<I)ERTLI) and ADJIJDGEI) that this Article 78 petition is dcnicd and h e proccediiy is dismissed Datcd: August 29,2012 Ncw York, Nciv Yorl, ¬ION. ARLENE P. HLU'I'H, JSC Page5of 5

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