Opinion ID: 1875320
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Big Stone County HRA's Burden of Proof

Text: There are two ways a defendant can satisfy its burden of proving that the requested accommodation would result in undue hardship. The defendant can either show that the proposed accommodation would impose undue financial or administrative burdens or that the accommodation would require fundamental or substantial modifications to its program. Se. Cmty. Coll. v. Davis, 442 U.S. 397, 410, 412-13, 99 S.Ct. 2361, 60 L.Ed.2d 980 (1979); see also DeBord v. Bd. of Educ., 126 F.3d 1102, 1106 (8th Cir.1997); 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7); 24 C.F.R. § 8.33 (2005). Big Stone County HRA first argues that the proposed accommodation would result in undue hardship because the cost of evaluating the adequacy of currently available programs in Big Stone County to address the specific needs of a disabled applicant would result in a substantial administrative burden and cost. But we conclude that this argument was not sufficiently developed in the record to satisfy Big Stone County HRA's burden of proof. The record does not disclose the cost of evaluating Hinneberg's request. Big Stone County HRA also argues that the proposed accommodation would result in undue hardship because it would fundamentally alter the nature of its Section 8 housing program. Because the exception to the residency policy requested by Hinneberg has the potential of swallowing the policy, and the policy is important to the ability of Big Stone County HRA to administer its program, we agree that Big Stone County HRA has shown that the requested accommodation would result in undue hardship. First, we observe that although portability is an important feature of Section 8 vouchers, another important feature of the program is its focus on meeting the needs of residents in each housing authority's jurisdiction. Congress directed that funding for individual housing agencies be initially distributed based on the relative needs of different states, areas, and communities, as reflected in data as to population, poverty, housing overcrowding, housing vacancies, amount of substandard housing, and other objectively measurable conditions. 42 U.S.C. § 1439(d)(1)(A)(i) (2000). Consistent with the objective that the budgets of local public housing authorities be used to serve local populations, HUD implemented a complex scheme for allocating funds. See 24 C.F.R. §§ 791.401-.407 (2005). Housing authorities compete with other authorities in their allocation area for funds from a HUD field office with a fixed budget. 24 C.F.R. § 791.404. Although the exact criteria for awarding funding can vary, 24 C.F.R. § 791.406(a), the objective is always to provide for the equitable distribution of available budget authority, consistent with the relative housing needs of each allocation area. 24 C.F.R. § 791.404(a). Thus it is clear that Congress and HUD established a nexus between the budget for a given public housing authority and the demographic characteristics of the population within its jurisdiction. This suggests that a housing authority may legitimately be concerned with its ability to meet the needs of the residents within its jurisdiction. If Hinneberg were able to use a Big Stone County housing voucher in another jurisdiction, the funding available to Big Stone County HRA to provide for resident-eligible applicants would be reduced. Although the portability feature modifies a housing authority's local preference to a degree, Congress mitigated the effect of portability by specifically allowing housing authorities to impose durational residency requirements like the one at issue here. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(r)(1)(B)(i); see also 24 C.F.R. § 982.353(c)(2)(ii). In fact, the legislative history of § 1437f(r)(1)(B) shows that Congress intended to authorize housing authorities to restrict access to its funds by nonresidents: This [portability] system has also led to instances of waiting list shopping where families that reside in areas with long waiting lists, shop the waiting lists in surrounding areas. When they find a shorter list, the family will place their name on the shorter list and upon receiving assistance in this new area will use such assistance in the jurisdiction where the family resides, without ever living in the new area that supplies the assistance. This waiting list shopping has resulted in some small agencies being unable to assist local residents. Another problem    is the effect of the difference in fair market rents between the originating area and the receiving area    further undercutting the number of local families the originating agency can serve. H.R.Rep. No. 102-760, at 90-91 (1992). Hinneberg counters that the proposed accommodation would create a very limited rule that only requires the proposed accommodation in individual cases where an applicant establishes that her disability prevents her from meeting the residency requirements. But Big Stone County HRA must face the likelihood that the grant of this accommodation to Hinneberg would encourage other similarly situated disabled nonresident applicants to request the same accommodation from the Big Stone County HRA. See DeBord, 126 F.3d at 1106 (recognizing that the cumulative effect that the proposed accommodation would have on the defendant made it unreasonable); Smith & Lee Assocs., Inc. v. City of Taylor, 13 F.3d 920, 931-32 (6th Cir.1993) (noting unreasonableness is determined by the cumulative effect that all similar accommodations would have on the defendant, not just by the effect that the one individual case before the court would have). If granted, such requests could impair Big Stone County HRA's ability to restrict the portability of its vouchers and, ultimately, could reduce Big Stone County's ability to serve the needs of its own residents, including those with disabilities. Hinneberg also argues that portability is fundamental to the structure of the program. But the Section 8 funding structure and the legislative history of section 1437f(r)(1)(B) persuade us that Big Stone County HRA's residency policy is also fundamental to the Section 8 program. In fact, by authorizing housing authorities to condition portability on satisfaction of a residency requirement, it appears that Congress views residency as a more fundamental element of the program. Therefore we conclude that Big Stone County has satisfied its burden of showing the proposed accommodation would result in undue hardship. Affirmed; motion to strike granted.