On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban (“HUD”) issued a determination that the Providence Homeowners Association, Inc. (“PHOA”), its property management company, First Service Residential Texas, Inc. (“FirstService”), its property manager and president of PHOA violated the Fair Housing Act by engaging in intentional discrimination based on race and color against Section 8 Voucher holders. Relman Colfax represents the Denton Housing Authority (“DHA”) in the matter.
The case arose in June 2022 when the PHOA—governing a community of about 7,000 residents in suburban Dallas—adopted a new policy barring Voucher holders. Of the 157 Voucher households affected, 93% were black families. Based on extensive evidence, HUD concluded the policy was racially motivated racially and had injured:
- Voucher holders and their families;
- As many as 63 landlords who participated in the Voucher program and were threatened by PHOA with fines of $300/week if they continued to rent to Voucher households;
- DHA, because 81 of the affected households received Voucher assistance from DHA, which relies on income generated through the program and is required to provide relocation assistance to displaced Voucher households. voucher holder’s participation and provides assistance when voucher holders are relocated, at considerable cost to its own operations.
Through its Chief Executive Officer, Sherri McDade, DHA advised Voucher holders of their rights under state and federal law, including their rights to file housing discrimination complaints with HUD. DHA also filed its own HUD complaint, as did several landlords who were injured by PHOA’s actions.
There was substantial national press coverage of PHOA’s actions, including by HBO’s John Oliver (at 11:03 of the segment). PHOA agreed not to enforce the policy while federal investigations were pending. However, in 2024, it adopted a new policy that restricted landlords from renting more than one property and limited the number of rental units to 25 percent of the lots in Providence Village. These new policies also limit renters’ access to housing and HUD found that they violated the HOA’s agreement not to enforce the earlier policy.
The determination issued by HUD found numerous examples of PHOA board members engaged in racial hostility and found that the Board and management company failed to do anything meaningful to respond to the aggression and threats directed at Voucher holders.
The Relman Colfax litigation team include Sara Pratt and Michael Allen. Their co-counsel are Mattye Jones and Paige Mebane, from the CoatsRose law firm based in Dallas, Texas.
A copy of HUD’s Reasonable Cause Determination can be found here and a copy of the HUD Charge can be found here.