RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's largest public housing authority is now facing a class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed last week, claims Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) knowingly violated federal law that requires them to offer a rent exemption to tenants facing extreme financial hardship.
The complaint says that two women, one a current RRHA tenant and one a former RRHA tenant, faced significant financial hardships that limited their ability to meet RRHA's minimal monthly rent, set at $50 a month. Both filed a Zero-Income Worksheet required by RRHA showing their inability to pay for rent, but neither was informed of RRHA's Hardship Exemption clause, which would make them immediately exempt from payments.
The 20-plus page complaint says notification and subsequent granting of the Exemption Hardship for those who qualify is not just part of RRHA's own policy. It says it's also required under the United States Housing Act, which states that a Public Housing Authority "shall immediately grant an exemption from application to the minimum monthly rental...to any family unable to pay such amount because of financial hardship."
"It's something that, as far as we can tell, RHA is not doing," said Michaela Ross, a senior attorney with Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC).
The first page of the lawsuit says the lack of notification to tenants is "no accident."
“It's RRHA's responsibility to make sure that people know about this Hardship Exemption, so that RRHA can follow federal law, which requires them to immediately grant it to anyone who qualifies, and they can't grant it if folks don't know about it," Ross said.
The lawsuit says attorneys believe not just the two plaintiffs, but possibly hundreds of tenants were never notified that the exemption existed.
Though it's unclear how many tenants evicted in the past two years may have qualified for the Hardship Exemption, a public information request LAJC received from RRHA found at least 600 RRHA public housing residents were paying minimum rent last year. About 500 tenants were paying minimum rent the year prior.
“They told us that only one person of the hundreds and hundreds that are on that $50 minimum rent over the last few years has gotten this hardship exemption," Ross said.
Omari Al-Quadaffi, a senior organizer with LAJC, said he's encountered many residents who have struggled with paying the minimum monthly rent.
"In the eight years that I've been organizing in public housing, not a single tenant has ever told me that they were aware of the Hardship Exemption, and when I informed them of it, they have no clue that it ever existed," Al-Quadaffi said. "When I went back into the community, they heard about it, and a lot of people were just telling me they had experienced the same thing."
RRHA representatives declined our request for an interview but said they are in the process of reviewing and assessing the allegations and are in discussions with legal counsel.
"It is important to note that RRHA takes our responsibility to taxpayers and the citizens of the city of Richmond seriously in providing access to affordable housing (income-based housing). It is common knowledge that RRHA is in the process of renewed lease enforcement and is moving forward systematically. These actions are likely creating issues and challenges to those who have not honored their responsibility for rental payments of leased property. RRHA strives to treat all of our residents respectfully and responsibly, uphold our fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers and ensure that we are in compliance with the mandates of federal housing law," said RRHA CEO Steven Nesmith.
The lawsuit says the failure to notify residents about the exemption is part of a "broader problem," citing a 2023 audit by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that found calculation errors in 66% of the tenant filed reviewed by investigators.
At the time, Nesmith told CBS 6 that he believed their calculations at the time were correct and that RRHA would be planning to bolster eviction prevention strategies.
“The City of Richmond has acknowledged that we're in a housing crisis, and RRHA is the option for people who have very low income to be able to afford to live in our city. And so practices like this that put people at risk of homelessness, at risk of losing their housing through absolutely no fault of their own, are really dangerous and really troubling, and so that's a big part of what we're doing here is to make sure that people are able to maintain their housing," Ross said.
The lawsuit requests RRHA repay residents who may have been illegally overcharged, and to improve their practices.
LAJC could not comment on next steps in the lawsuit.
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