Thompson v. Washington, 179 U.S. App. D.C. 357 (1977)

Citation: Thompson v. Washington, 179 U.S. App. D.C. 357 (1977)
Parent Document: Thompson v. Washington, 179 U.S. App. D.C. 357 (1977)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 1977-02-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7891432/thompson-v-washington/ ↗

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The tenants’ motion sought restitution under the principles set out in Williams v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission and Democratic Central Committee v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission, discussed above in Part I. In response, the officials of NCHA argued that “retroactive” relief6 from a *363procedurally defective rent schedule was not warranted in this case, since Thompson I decided an issue of first impression, and recalculation and restitution of past rents would be far more inequitable to NCHA than would denial of these remedies to the tenants. As to the balance of equities, the housing authorities asserted in particular that (1) recomputation of rents would be virtually impossible since many tenants had moved out of NCHA housing subsequent to the rent increase, and accurate data on which to compute rents was no longer available; (2) the rent increases had not been set aside in a fund which could be used to supply restitution, and NCHA is hard-, pressed to meet operating and maintenance expenses and does not have contingency or other funds with which to make retroactive payments to tenants; and (3) the rent schedule was, in any event, only procedurally invalid, and did not necessarily result in excessive rental charges. Moreover, contended appellees, the hardship suffered by the tenants was slight, because in December 1969 Congress enacted the so-called Brooke Amendment to the United States Housing Act, effective ninety days thereafter, providing that rents for public low-rent housing may not exceed one-fourth of any family’s income. Pub.L. 91-152, Sec. 213, 83 Stat. 389 (1969), now codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1402(1) (1970).

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