Source: https://openjurist.org/393/us/268
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 14:22:02+00:00

Document:
HOUSING AUTHORITY OF the CITY OF DURHAM.
On September 17, 1965, the Housing Authority brought an action for summary eviction in the Durham Justice of the Peace Court, which, three days later, ordered petitioner removed from her apartment. On appeal to the Superior Court of Durham County, petitioner alleged that she was being evicted because of her organizational activities in violation of her First Amendment rights. After a trial de novo,5 the Superior Court affirmed the eviction, and the Supreme Court of North Carolina also affirmed.6 Both appellate courts held that under the lease the Authority's reasons for terminating petitioner's tenancy were immaterial. On December 5, 1966, we granted certiorari7 to consider whether petitioner was denied due process by the Housing Authority's refusal to state the reasons for her eviction and to afford her a hear ng at which she could contest the sufficiency of those reasons.
In support of the North Carolina judgment, the Housing Authority makes three arguments: (1) the HUD circular was intended to be advisory, not mandatory; (2) if the circular is mandatory, it is an unauthorized and unconstitutional impairment of both the Authority's annual contributions contract with HUD14 and the lease agreement between the Authority and petitioner; and (3) even if the circular is mandatory, within HUD's power, and constitutional, it does not apply to eviction proceedings commenced prior to the date the circular was issued. We reject each of these contentions.
Despite the incorporation of the February 7 circular into the Management Manual in October 1967, the Housing Authority contends that on its face the circular purports to be only advisory. The Authority places particular emphasis on the circular's precatory statement that HUD 'believes' that its notification procedure should be followed. In addition to overlooking the significance of the subsequent incorporation of the circular into the Management Manual, the Authority's argument is based upon a simple misconstruction of the language actually used. The import of that language, which characterizes the new notification procedure as 'essential,' becomes apparent when the February 7 circular is contrasted with the one it superseded. The earlier circular, issued on May 31, 1966, stated: '(W)e strongly urge as a matter of good social policy, that Local Authorities in a private conference inform any tenants who are given * * * (termination) notices of the reasons for this action.'21 (Emphasis added.) This circular was not incorporated into the Management Manual.
That HUD intended the February 7 circular to be mandatory has been confirmed unequivocally in letters written by HUD's Assistant Secretary for Renewal and Housing Assistance22 and by its Chief Counsel.23 As we stated in Bowles v. Seminole Rock Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414, 65 S.Ct. 1215, 1217, 89 L.Ed. 1700 (1945), when construing an administrative regulation, 'a court must necessarily look to the administrative construction of the regulation if the meaning of the words used is in doubt. * * * (T)he ultimate criterion is the administrative interpretation, which becomes of controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation.'24 Thus, when the language and HUD's treatment of the February 7 circular are contrasted with the language and treatment of the superseded circular, there can be no doubt that the more recent circular was intended to be mandatory, not merely advisory as contended by the Authority.
The Authority also argues that under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment HUD is powerless to impose any obligations except those mutually agreed upon in the annual contributions contract.31 If HUD's power is not so limited, the Authority argues, HUD would be free to impair its contractual obligations to the Authority through unilateral action. Moreover, in this particular case, the Authority contends that HUD has not only impaired its own contract with the Authority, but it has also impaired the contract between petitioner and the Authority. The obligations of each of these contracts, however, can be impaired only 'by a law which renders them invalid, or releases or extinguishes them * * * (or by a law) which without destroying (the) contracts derogate(s) from substantial contractual rights.'32 The HUD circular does neither.
The respective obligations of both HUD and the Authority under the annual contributions contract remain unchanged. Each provision of that contract is as enforceable now as it was prior to the issuance of the circular.33 Although the circular supplements the contract in the sense that it imposes upon the Authority an additional obligation not contained in the contract, that obligation is imposed under HUD's wholly independent rule-making power.
Since the Authority does not argue that the circular is proscribed by any constitutional provision other than the Due Process Clause, the only remaining inquiry is whether it is reasonably related to the purposes of the enabling legislation under which it was promulgated.36 One of the specific purposes of the federal housing acts is to provide 'a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family'37 that lacks the financial means of providing such a home without governmental aid. A procedure requiring housing authorities to explain why they are evicting a tenant who is apparently among those people in need of such assistance certainly furthers this goal. We therefore cannot hold that the circular's requirements bear no reasonable relationship to the purposes for which HUD's rule-making power was authorized.
This same reasoning has been applied where the change was constitutional,40 statutory,41 or judicial.42 Surely it applies with equal force where the change is made by an administrative agency acting pursuant to legislative authorization. Exceptions have been made to prevent manifest injustice,43 but this is not such a case.
To the contrary, the general rule is particularly applicable here. The Housing Authority concedes that its power to evict is limited at least to the extent that it may not evict a tenant for engaging in constitutionally protected activity;44 but a tenant would have considerable difficulty effectively defending against such an admittedly illegal eviction if the Authority were under no obligation to disclose its reasons.45 On the other hand, requiring the Authority to apply the circular before evicting petitioner not only does not infringe upon any of its rights, but also does not even constitute an imposition. The Authority admitted during oral argument that it has already begun complying with the circular.46 It refuses to apply it to petitioner simply because it decided to evict her before the circular was issued. Since petitioner has not yet vacated, we fail to see the significance of this distinction. We conclude, therefore, that the circular should be applied to all tenants still residing in McDougald Terrace, including petitioner, not only because it is designed to insure a fairer eviction procedure in general, but also because the prescribed notification is essential to remove a serious impediment to the successful protection of constitutional rights.
386 U.S. 670, 673—674, 87 S.Ct. 1244, 1246, 18 L.Ed.2d 394 (1967).
Under § 10(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 891, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1410(a) (1964 ed., Supp. III), HUD is required to enter into an annual contributions contract with the local housing authorities. In that contract, HUD guarantees to provide a certain amount of money over a certain number of years.
50 Stat. 891, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1408 (1964 ed., Supp. III).
This rule-making power was transferred from the Public Housing Administration to HUD by § 5(a) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, 79 Stat. 669, 42 U.S.C. § 3534(a), 1964 ed., Supp. III).
50 Stat. 891, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1408 (1964 ed., Supp. III). Such broad rule-making powers have been granted to numerous other federal administrative bodies in substantially the same language. See, e.g., 72 Stat. 743, 49 U.S.C. § 1324(a) (Civil Aeronautics Board); 49 Stat. 647, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1302 (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare); 52 Stat. 830, 15 U.S.C. § 717o (Federal Power Commission).
Section 1 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 50 Stat. 888, as amended by § 501 of the Housing Act of 1959, 73 Stat. 679, 42 U.S.C. § 1401.
See, e.g., FCC v. Schreiber, 381 U.S. 279, 289—294, 85 S.Ct. 1459, 1467—1469, 14 L.Ed.2d 383 (1965); American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. United States, 344 U.S. 298, 73 S.Ct. 307, 97 L.Ed. 337 (1953).
Section 2 of the Housing Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 413, 42 U.S.C. § 1441. That section further directs all agencies of the Federal Government 'having powers, functions, or duties with respect to housing * * * (to) exercise their powers, functions, and duties under this or any other law, consistently with the national housing policy declared by this Act * * *.' Ibid.
See generally Thorpe v. Housing Authority of the City of Durham, 386 U.S. 670, 674—681, 87 S.Ct. 1244, 1246—1251, 18 L.Ed.2d 394 (1967) (Douglas, J., concurring).
Transcript of Argument 28. Despite this admission, counsel for the Authority insisted throughout his oral argument that HUD has no power to require compliance with the circular. See id., at 26—27, 28, 30—32, 48—49. He even expressly suggested that the Authority could depart from its requirements 'without violating any kind of Federal law.' Id., at 48.
Alabama State Federation of Labor v. McAdory, 325 U.S. 450, 461, 65 S.Ct. 1384, 1389, 89 L.Ed. 1725 (1945). Cf. Zemel v. Rusk, supra, 381 U.S., at 18—20, 85 S.Ct., at 1281—1282, 14 L.Ed.2d 179; United States v. Fruehauf, 365 U.S. 146, 81 S.Ct. 547, 5 L.Ed.2d 476 (1961).
Moreover, if the procedure followed by the Authority proves inadequate, HUD may well decide to provide for an appropriate hearing. Cf. 24 CFR §§ 1.1—1.12 (1968), which establish a detailed procedure to dispose of complaints of racial discrimination in any federally assisted program.

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