DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Section 888

Citation
Section 888
Parent Document
Open Cmtys. Alliance v. Carson, 286 F. Supp. 3d 148 (2017)
Effective Date
2017-12-23
Original Source
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7328080/open-cmtys-alliance-v-carson/ ↗

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OCA has shown that the Rule's delay will "perceptibly impair[ ]" OCA's programs and "directly conflict with the organization's mission." League of Women Voters , 838 F.3d at 8. The Rule's delay frustrates OCA's ability to assist voucher holders gain access to greater opportunity in several ways. First, the delay frustrates OCA's "engage[ment] with ... developers to encourage the acquisition and construction of housing that is affordable to voucher holders in non-concentrated, high-opportunity areas in the Hartford metropolitan area," because "[t]he anticipated income from voucher holders will not support financing of such development while [voucher] rents are being calculated on a metropolitan-wide basis, rather than with a small-area calculation." OCA Decl. ¶ 8. OCA also has diverted scarce resources away from previously planned projects to address HUD's delay of the Rule. Id. ¶¶ 10-12. "With the suspension in effect," OCA explains, "OCA will need to spend significant resources on research, outreach, public education, and advocacy to implement small area market rents 'voluntarily' on a PHA-by-PHA basis across the Hartford metropolitan area, a multi-year effort that may ultimately prove futile." Id. ¶ 10. OCA has already changed its activities as a result of the Rule's delay. For example, OCA "planned to produce a Small Area Fair Market Rent web portal which would have included (a) an analysis of the difference between SAFMRs and FMRs across the state, (b) an explanation of SAFMRs, (c) data on the current location of voucher holders, and (d) the results of a time consuming rent study that highlighted the additional units that would become available under the new rent calculation formula." Id. ¶ 11. In light of the Rule's delay, OCA is "now taking steps to revise the content of this portal and to instead produce an advocacy piece, based on this data, explaining why the program freeze is detrimental." Id. Finally, the Rule's delay has required OCA "to engage in further meetings and other communications with stakeholders to ensure that the impact of this policy suspension is fully understood" and to "spen[d] time conducting outreach to [OCA's] coalition members to explain the freeze and its consequences for voucher holders." Id. ¶ 12.